Orechiette with Chicken Sausage and Broccoli Rabe

NEW KITCHEN ALERT. I moved away.

This is what happens when John is in Jersey. Things get healthier and the pictures get shittier.

People always talk about how they love certain pasta shapes for certain dishes. Everyone sounds like a jackass when they talk about this. However, they are sort of right. Orechiette is an awesome effing pasta shape and any other for this would suck. I dunno. Maybe it’s psychological. Or maybe it’s just better.

I had some chicken sausage penne thing on a date at Osteria via Stato in Chicago that was awesome, and afterwards realized chicken sausage is a legit food. So I bought some at my new ritzy white-people Whole Foods, where the hipsters actually take showers and people strap their kids into bike seats and park their dogs outside.

This recipe is secretly almost low calorie. Maybe if I didn’t pour half a bottle of wine into everything. You can get drunk off my food. Speaking of, $2 Chuck chardonnay is way less disgusting as a drinking wine than I thought it would be. But it isn’t really $2. Hmmmmm.

I cooked this for just me. Recipe is pre-multiplied to serve 2 people, though. Aren’t I nice? 

Orechiette with Chicken Sausage and Broccoli Rabe

2 chicken sausages, mild or spicy

1 box orechiette pasta

1 1/2 cups Chardonnay

3 cloves garlic

1 bunch broccoli rabe, stalks quartered

Red pepper flakes

Parmiggiano

Olive oil, kosher salt, pepper, the usual

Boil water. Don’t salt it. When it boils, dunk the broccoli rabe in. Fun with parboiling. Leave that in for 2 minutes. Fish it out with a slotted spoon and put it in a colander in the sink (provided your sink is less grungy than the sink I just left behind at my previous house… if it isn’t, you should be ashamed of yourself). Keep the water heating and now salt it. It will take a minute to reboil. Add pasta.

Meanwhile slice the chicken sausages down the center and peel off the skin like a dissection experiment. It will probably be gooey. In a deep saute pan, saute the garlic in oil until browned, then add the sausage. Break up the meat with a slotted spoon and cook until done - you’ll know by the color. It doesn’t take very long. Pull off the heat, add the drained broccoli rabe and white wine, and bring to a low simmer (just enough to reduce the liquids - this definitely still has alcohol in it). Add hot flakes and stir.

SAVE SOME PASTA WATER. IT WILL BE RADIOACTIVE GREEN BUT IT CAN’T HURT YOU.

Drain the orechiette and stir into the saute pan. Add grated parm and more hot flakes.

I’m still impressed I didn’t revert immediately to frozen gyoza and pizza bagels after moving out on my own, so I’m gonna probably revel in my own awesome by cooking and writing for a week before deciding I should sleep more.

But then I remember it’s me.

Crispy Roasted Chicken & Rapini

Who doesn’t love chicken skin? Cartman loves crispy chicken skin. The writers at our rival blog love crispy chicken skin. Everyone loves crispy chicken skin. Even vegetarians probably love it, even if they can’t admit it. It’s okay.

Tonight we made some chicken parts from Whole Foods into roasty, crispy chicken delight, without the brick recipes usually say you need. You don’t need it. Like most things we make, there is a) not a significant amount of actual recipe and b) a lot of technique and timing involved. Follow the timing. DGAF about the measurements, since we make them up most of the time anyway. Also, rapini = broccolini = broccoli rabe. Basically, asparagus-looking stalks with fluffy broccoli heads. They are delicious, but hard to find outside of pretentious grocery stores.

Roasted Chicken and Rapini (adapted from the Red Cat’s Roasted Chicken technique)

Ingredients

4 tbsp. canola oil (don’t substitute olive oil, you need the high smoke point)

2 1/2 boneless, skin-on chicken parts

Salt & Pepper

See? The ingredients are a joke. The skill is more important.

Preheat the oven to 450°. Season the chicken parts. Heat a cast iron pan over high heat until a water drop flicked onto it evaporates, and then add the canola oil. When the oil shimmers, put in the chicken skin-side down and cook 3-5 minutes until crispay. Remove from heat and put the pan in the oven for about 20 minutes. Cook it until the internal temp is 175ish.

Rapini

Ingredients

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp canola oil

4 garlic cloves, sliced thin

2 bunches of rapini

1/4-cup water or chicken broth

2 tbsp salted butter

Lemon

Salt, pepper, & crushed red pepper flakes

Pour oils into saute pan over medium heat and saute garlic until golden. Add rapini, tossing in the oil, add water or broth, and cover. Reduce heat and cook until liquid is almost evaporated, about 8ish minutes. Remove cover, season with salt/pepper/hot flakes, and stir in butter. Serve on top of the chicken.

PS. Esquire uses this recipe in the ‘Cooking for Men’ section, aka, how to make every woman want you. Cosmopolitan uses a dumb variation of this called ‘engagement chicken’ to get men to propose. Basically, make this chicken if you don’t want to be forever alone.