Sausage and Orecchiette

If you’re looking for a pasta dish that’s light on the sauce without compromising on flavor, then this is the recipe for you. When I’m craving pasta, but don’t want a red sauce, this is often my go to.

My husband and I used to live in NYC and there was a causal Italian place around the block from his apartment. On Sundays, if we weren’t making our own sauce, we would order a tray of sausage and orecchiette from that restaurant. When we moved to a different state, we didn’t have any restaurants that served this dish so we had to figure out how to do it ourselves when the craving struck.

What you need

Orecchiette: this is the perfect past for this dish. But if your grocery store doesn’t have it, you can substitute for a different pasta. I think farfalle (bow ties) or shells work well with this dish

Ground sausage. I prefer to use hot italian ground sausage, but you can also use mild Italian. If you don’t have ground sausage, you can buy links and just remove the casing.

Broccoli rabe. The bitterness of this vegetable really adds to this dish, but if you don’t have any or you don’t like broccoli rabe, you can substitute for broccoletti which has a sweeter taste.

Garlic. No sauce is complete without garlic.

Crushed red pepper flakes. They add a little kick, but you can always skip this.

Chicken broth. I prefer to use sodium reduced chicken broth. If you do not have chicken broth, you can do a 1:1 swap with pasta water. Before draining the pasta, just grab 1 cup from the pot.

Parmesan cheese. Using grated parmesan cheese works best in my opinion.

Orecchiette translates to little ears in italian. The shape of this pasta is perfect for scooping up this broth based sauce and packing flavor in every bite.

Fun fact, broccoli rabe is actually more closely related to turnips than broccoli. The whole bunch is edible including the stem, leaves, and florets. It has a bitter taste that adds a robust flavor to the dish and pairs well with the sausage and oil.

I love sautéd broccoli rabe. The texture goes perfectly with this dish.

This dish has become a comfort dish for us. It’s really easy to make, doesn’t take long, and it hits every time. Cook the sausage. Once that’s done, set aside and in the same pan sauté the broccoli rabe. Add in the garlic and cook for another minute or so. Once that is done, add the sausage back in and keep heat on low.

Add the cooked orecchiette to the pan with some red pepper flakes. Then add in the Parmesan cheese then the chicken broth. Stir to combine and you are ready to serve and enjoy!

Bitter broccoli rabe pairs nicely with hot Italian sausage and garlic in a Parmesan broth sauce. This is the perfect comfort food for a slow Sunday dinner at home.