Pasta with Broccoli Rabe, Bacon, Bread Crumbs, & Manchego

Name: Pasta with Broccoli Rabe, Bacon, Bread Crumbs, & Manchego
Prep time: 5 min
Total time: 25 min
Yield: 6 Servings
Ingredients: 1 pound broccoli rabe, tough ends removed, cut into 1-inch lengths; 4 Tablespoons olive oil; 1 cup fresh bread crumbs; 4 slices bacon, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch strips; 3 cloves garlic, minced; 1/4 teaspoons red-pepper flakes; 1 pound short pasta; salt and pepper, to taste; Manchego cheese, grated

By Leslie Blythe Bacon, Cheese, Italian, Pasta Boiling, Sautéing

July 13, 2015

Pasta with Broccoli Rabe, Bacon, Bread Crumbs, & Manchego a taste of Italy! Pasta di Gragnano is imported from Gragnano, Italy, which is a small town south of Naples that's reputed to be the birthplace of dried pasta. This is where Pasta di Gragnano produces this unique line of bronze-died pasta made with local wheat. The name itself implies a location and style of production, much the same way that a DOC wine appellation does. To be called pasta di Gragnano, the pasta must be produced in a legally defined area in and around the Bay of Naples and it must be made by mixing durum wheat with the calcium poor water of the Monti Lattari. The dough is forced through rough bronze forms and dried at low temperatures in the mountain air. The result is a high quality product with plenty of surface area to absorb the flavor and liquid of the sauce with which it is served.

Prep: 5 mins
Cook: 20 mins
Yields: 6 Servings

Ingredients

1 pound broccoli rabe, tough ends removed, cut into 1-inch lengths

4 Tablespoons olive oil

1 cup fresh bread crumbs

4 slices bacon, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch strips

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 teaspoons red-pepper flakes

1 pound short pasta

salt and pepper, to taste

Manchego cheese, grated

Directions

1In a medium pot of boiling, salted water, cook the broccoli rabe until almost done, about 3 minutes. Drain thoroughly.

2In a large nonstick frying pan, heat 2 Tablespoons of the oil over moderate heat. Add the bread crumbs and cook, stirring, until golden, about 5 minutes. Remove. Wipe out the pan.

3In the same pan, cook the bacon until crisp. Remove the bacon and drain on paper towels. Pour off all the fat. Heat the remaining 2 Tablespoons of olive oil in the frying pan over moderately low heat. Add the garlic and red-pepper flakes and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the broccoli rabe and cook, stirring occasionally, until just done, about 3 minutes longer.

4In a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook the orecchiette until done, about 15 minutes. Drain and toss with the bread crumbs, bacon, broccoli rabe, salt and pepper. Top with grated Manchego cheese.

5Note - The quickest way to make fresh bread crumbs is to tear up a few slices of French or Italian bread and whir them in the food processor.

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