Penne with Broccoli Rabe and Sausage

Name: Penne with Broccoli Rabe and Sausage
Yield: serves 4
Ingredients: 6 ounces whole-wheat orecchiette or penne; 9 cups loosely packed broccoli rabe, trimmed and cut into bite-size chunks; 1 1/2 links hot Italian turkey sausage, casings removed; 8 garlic cloves, sliced very thin; 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper; 2/3 cup low-fat, low-sodium chicken broth; 1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese; Salt and freshly ground black pepper

December 9, 2011

It’s the combination of bitter broccoli rabe and hot sausage that makes this one of the greatest Italian-American dishes. My mother began making this when my Uncle Joe became a butcher and could provide an unlimited supply of his own handmade pork-and-fennel sausages. It’s still one of my favorites of Mama’s dishes. Here I use whole-wheat penne and low-fat turkey sausage—but the rest I left just like Mama’s.

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