Pasta with Quick Sausage Ragu and Broccoli Rabe
Coming together in less than an hour, this flavor-packed dish will become a weeknight staple.
Weeknight pasta dinners often sacrifice taste for convenience, but that doesn’t have to be the case. This flavor-packed yet surprisingly simple quick ragu, courtesy of our Culinary Creative Director Rhoda Boone, calls for fresh Italian sausage, but can easily be substituted for plant-based chorizo and made vegetarian or vegan.
The addition of broccoli rabe brings dimension and brightness to a meat-heavy dish, and blanching it alongside the pasta helps to tame some of its bitterness. Even though they are not technically the same and will add a different flavor profile, you can swap the rabe for broccolini or broccoli florets.
Pasta with Quick Sausage Ragu and Broccoli Rabe
Coming together in less than an hour, this flavor-packed dish will become a weeknight staple.
Rhoda Boone, Culinary Director
- 1.
Bring water to a boil in an 8-QT Stockpot fitted with a Pasta Insert.
- 2.
Heat a Dutch Oven over medium-high. Add oil, and once hot, add onion, carrot, celery, ½ tsp. salt, and a few grinds of pepper. Saute until soft, 6–8 minutes.
- 3.
Add the sausage, ½ tsp. salt, and a few more grinds of pepper and cook, stirring often and breaking apart the sausage with the back of a wooden spoon, until cooked through and beginning to brown, 7–10 minutes.
- 4.
Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring, until brick red in color, about 1 minute.
- 5.
Add the wine, bring to a boil for 1 minute, and deglaze by scraping up the brown bits from the bottom. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer until reduced until almost dry, about 2 minutes more.
- 6.
Stir in canned tomatoes and cheese rind, if using. Reduce heat to medium and simmer gently for 10–15 minutes.
- 7.
While sauce is cooking, generously salt the boiling water and cook pasta according to package directions. Four minutes before the al dente point, reserve 1 cup pasta water, then add broccoli rabe to the boiling water. Check the rabe to make sure the stems are soft and drain the pasta along with the broccoli rabe 1 minute before the al dente point.
- 8.
Remove and discard the Parmesan rind from the sauce. Taste the sauce and adjust seasoning. Add the pasta and broccoli rabe to the sauce and stir to combine.
- 9.
Add ½ cup pasta water and toss well to coat, adding more pasta water as needed to lightly coat the pasta in sauce. Simmer until well-incorporated, 1–2 minutes. Taste again and adjust seasoning if necessary.
- 10.
Plate pasta in an Entrée Bowl and top with a drizzle of olive oil, basil, and Parmesan, if using.
