Livia's Orecchiette ai Cimini di Rapa
You can listen to the Italian author Livia Franchini cook this recipe and talk about the role of food in her debut novel Shelf Life in Series 3 of Lecker here. Read more about the episode here.
A caveat on fresh pasta: Obviously, you can make your own orecchiette for this, but making fresh orecchiette is a complicated, sacred ritual that belongs to the Pugliese, and as a Tuscan I have always felt I should respect it by buying dry. (Also, let’s face it: I live in London, so I have rarely had the time to try and perfect that process.) Dry pasta will work fine, and unless it’s a celebration of some sort, dry pasta will be the go-to in any Italian household nowadays. Italian cooking can be prescriptive, but is always democratic and unpretentious at heart: better to seat many friends and feed them large quantities, than fixate on making it gourmet for a selected few in a bid for authenticity. So don’t be scared of taking the short route, but do buy decent orecchiette if you can: DeCecco, Garofalo and Rummo (my favourite) are all available in the UK. Some supermarkets have their own brand too.
Ingredients for two people:
250g of fresh cime di rapa (these may be hard to find: a legitimate alternative if you live in the UK is the humble broccoli, or tenderstem, if you want to go fancy)
200g of dry orecchiette
GOOD (I cannot emphasise this enough) extravirgin olive oil
Anchovy paste (hard to find in the UK, absolutely fine to substitute anchovy fillets - 3 add gentle flavour, but I like things a bit punchier so I put maybe 5)
A clove of garlic
Chilli flakes (I have found that chipotle chilli flakes add a deliciously unorthodox smoky twist)
Salt
Pepper
Pecorino romano (Parmesan will work in a pinch)
Bring a large pot of water to the boil while you clean the cime di rapa, getting rid of the tougher part of the stems, but keeping any leaves and flowers.
Salt the water (a palmful of and throw in the cime di rapa, to cook until tender.
While the cime are cooking, crush a garlic clove and add to a large pan with a generous glug of olive oil (it should cover the bottom layer of the pan uniformly). Add the chilli flakes and the anchovy paste/fillets and gently heat on a medium heat until the anchovy melts. Watch it closely so the garlic doesn’t burn or brown.
Drain the cime di rapa without getting rid of their cooking water. Transfer to the pan, lower the heat and drag them around in the flavoured hot oil. (If you’re using broccoli, mash them so that they break into a thick sauce.) Add cooking water if the sauce seems too dry. Taste and add salt if necessary.
As the cime are cooking, bring the cooking water you used for the vegetables back to the boil and add the orecchiette. Cook the pasta according to instructions on the packet, but drain one minute earlier than the recommended time.
Add the orecchiette to the pan and toss together with the cime, adding a couple of ladlefuls of cooking water to bring cooking to completion. When all the water has been absorbed, turn off the heat and sprinkle with pecorino. Season to taste with black pepper.