Spring Harvest-Fennel & Sausage Pizza

Sometimes, nature makes runts. In the barn, in our family (is it rude to call my preemie a runt?) and yes, in the garden. I don't know if it was lack of sun, or overcrowding, or both...but the fennel I had planted in my winter garden was a little on the lean side. Instead of the usual plump bulbs, I had supermodel-thin ones--long and leggy, with a glorious green and frilly crown. What they had in looks, they lacked in substance (I'll refrain from getting too metaphorical here...but it's hard). I was really hoping to be able to grow some sturdy stalks with a little junk in the trunk.

But I had waited long enough and needed to harvest what was left in the garden to make room for my tomatoes, and squash and peppers.


The carrots we scrubbed and ate raw--they were gobbled up in a matter of moments, as were the few peas left on the vine. With the fennel, I decided to use it to top Friday's pizza, along with some spicy Italian sausage.



Luckily, the thin bulbs did have quite a bit of sharp, anise flavor, as did the tops, which I sprinkled on as a garnish after the pizza came out of the oven. It was a delicious way to use up the last of harvest. Now bring on the tomatoes!




For best results, cook your pizzas in a HOT (500 degree) oven, and on a pizza stone. I like to cook it until the crust is crisp and blistered on the edges. Homemade dough is super easy to make (I promise), but store-bought, fresh dough can be good in a pinch. Look for it in one-pound bags sold at Trader Joes or other specialty markets....or try asking your favorite pizza joint if you can buy a couple pounds of dough.


Sausage & Fennel Pizza
Printable Recipe

When it comes to flavor and value, homemade pizza is the way to go. If you don't have a pizza stone (or pizza pan), don't fret--just cook it on a regular sheet pan. You may not have the same crisp dough, but it will still be light-years above the stuff that comes from your local pizza joint. You may find it so delicious and easy to make that you decide to invest in a pizza stone and pizza peel, which can be found in practically any kitchen supply store.

Prep time: 30 minutes (not including dough)
Total time: 45 minutes
Yield: serves 3-4

Ingredients:

1/2 recipe pizza dough (or a one-pound ball of dough)
1 pound of spicy Italian sausage
1/2 cup of your favorite Marinara or pizza sauce
1 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese
1 fennel bulb, thinly sliced (reserve some of the green fronds for garnish)
olive oil

Preparation:

1. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees one hour before you plan to bake the pizza if you have a pizza stone (which should be on the bottom rack of the oven). If you don't have a pizza stone, just heat it right before you bake the pizza.

2. Carefully stretch or roll the dough into a 12-inch round on a lightly floured surface. If the dough seems tight, let it rest for 5 minutes, then try stretching it again. Cover with a clean cloth and set aside.

3. Remove sausage from its casing and crumble into a hot skillet. Cook until sausage is browned, using a spatula to break up any large chunks. Remove from pan and drain on a paper towel.

4. If you're cooking the pizza on a pan, lightly flour it and place dough in the pan at this time. If you are using a pizza peel, lightly flour the peel and set the dough on top of it now.

5. Spread the sauce over the dough, leaving a one-inch border all around the edge. Sprinkle the cheese over the top, again leaving a border. Top with the cooked sausage and fennel slices.

6. If using a peel, carefully shake the pizza back and forth over the peel to make sure it will easily slide into the oven. If it seems stuck, carefully lift the edge in a few places and blow some flour under it. Carefully shake it again. It should slide easily. If not, repeat with the flour. Slide the pizza into the oven directly on top of the stone. Bake for 10-15 minutes, until the crust is crisp and blistered. (If you're using a pan, just place the pan on top of the pizza stone).

7. Use the peel to remove the pizza from the oven. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with reserved, chopped fennel fronds. Slice into 8 slices and serve immediately.

Season of Plenty

Summer is slipping right through my fingers and it seems that the harder I cling to it, the faster it goes. Our days have been busy with fun things, yes, but also with the daily things that go along with managing a household of 9, including 6 children, like laundry, grocery shopping, cooking, cleaning, and laundry...did I mention laundry? For our last week here, my husband, who has worked most days since we have arrived (including weekends......he reads my blog so perhaps he will get the hint), has promised me that he will take this last week off so we can have a vacation week, and be tourists in our home away from home. While that remains to be seen, I do plan to make a list and try to fill my cup with as much Cape Cod as it will hold to tide me over until our next visit. I do miss it terribly when we are away.

Fortunately, our garden has weathered the literal storms and is finally producing lovely things, like our first green beans of the season, harvested last night and served simply, tossed with some olive oil, lemon zest and sea salt. There were only enough for each adult to have about 5 beans...whetting our appetite for many more to come (hopefully). In addition to that, we enjoyed fresh, homemade pizza, resurrecting our Friday tradition, with Swiss chard from the garden as well as sausage, kalamata olives and ricotta cheese.


Our bellies full, we headed out to our favorite beach, Sandy Neck, to skip stones, dance in the waves lapping on the shore (which were surprisingly large due to a recent storm) and search for beautiful, yet illusive heart-shaped rocks.



All in all it was a delightful evening here on the Cape. Here's hoping for at least a week more...

Pizza with Swiss Chard, Sausage and Olives

This pizza, thrown together from what we had in the garden and fridge, was so wonderfully satisfying. The chard crisped nicely and the sausage gave it some heft, while the sliced kalamata olives provided the right bit of briny and tangy goodness.

1 recipe pizza dough--or store bought dough (enough for one crust)

1/2 C your favorite tomato sauce pizza topping**

6-8 oz mozzarella cheese

several leaves of Swiss chard, stemmed and chopped

1/4 pound of Italian sausage, removed from casing if necessary, cooked and crumbled

10 pitted kalamata olives

8 or so T of ricotta cheese

Preheat oven to 500 degrees for one hour with pizza stone on the lowest oven rack.

Stretch dough according to directions and place on a floured square of parchment paper. Spread on pizza sauce and sprinkle on mozzarella cheese. Pile on Swiss chard, sprinkle with sausage and olives then dollop on the ricotta cheese. Slide dough on the parchment paper onto stone and bake for about 15 minutes, or until crust is golden and bubbled and cheese has melted. Remove from oven and discard parchment paper. Drizzle with olive oil, cut into wedges and serve.

**For pizza sauce, I simmer one small can of diced tomatoes with two grated cloves of garlic and a small handful of minced basil for about 15 minutes. Easy!

Soup Kitchen

I've often heard it said that February, though it has the fewest days, is actually the longest month of the year, or so it seems. Winter weary souls all throughout the country are brow beaten by the constant chill and frost, and pounded by even more snow, sleet and rain. In southern California, where I live, February is a bit bi-polar...one day impossibly warm and sunny, so that I rush out to plant flowers in the garden, my skin pink and flushed with sun and sweat...and the next day, cold and dreary, pouring rain on the freshly dug earth, drowning the baby poppies in their beds, their fuzzy heads drooping under the weight of it all. I cannot complain, because we need the rain, we really do. And it cleans the air so much so that even the new green grass on the sides of the foothills can be seen, which is a rarity indeed. It heartens me to know that at least in Los Angeles, February is winter's swan song, her last chance to make herself known, before she is pushed aside by relentless sun, sprouting daffodils, and barefoot children running and playing outdoors.

I walked the dog today, high upon a hill. I try to get there as fast as I can to enjoy the view of the tall mountains surrounding our little valley. The word valley itself might conjure up a delightful scene of cottages and farms dotting the landscape, but ours is a paved-over suburbia, filled with "little boxes on the hillsides" as Malvina Reynolds once sang. So with the houses all the same, and not much to speak of, I look to the landscape. Today as we went along, the brisk air just enough to bite the tip of my nose and redden my cheeks, the puffy white clouds were like little mirror images of the mountain tops, still sporting a light dusting of snow from the last storm. A lovely scene.

Back home, in my kitchen, I light the oven often in these waning days of winter, for I know that in short order, I will be complaining of the heat and cooking out on the grill as much as possible (and escaping to Cape Cod). In anticipation of another fractured family supper (thank you baseball practice), I made an Italian soup of some sort, and some dinner rolls that, while not exactly the perfect match for the hearty soup simmering away on my stove, were as fluffy as those clouds in the sky, and delicious too. Not quite a muffin, not quite a typical yeast dough, they are the perfect compromise of time and flavor...not to mention that the aroma of freshly baked bread will wrap your family up in a warm embrace when they walk through the door, which is just the thing we all need during winter's last hurrah.

Double Quick Dinner Rolls

makes 12

2 1/4 t of dried yeast (or one package)

1 C warm water (around 100 degrees)

1 large egg

2 T sugar

2 T vegetable shortening

1 t salt

2 1/4 C flour

Dissolve yeast in water in a large bowl. Wait until frothy, which takes about 5 minutes. Whisk in egg, sugar, shortening, and salt. Add 1 C flour and whisk until batter is smooth. Add remaining flour and stir until combined. Cover with a damp cloth, and set in a warm place until double, about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile preheat oven to 400 degrees. When dough has risen, place spoonfulls in greased muffin tin, filling approximately half way up. Let rise again for 30 minutes (or until doubled in size). Bake in oven for 15-20 minutes, or until lightly golden brown. Serve immediately, or let cool on wire rack.

Italian Sausage Soup

This soup is a pantry soup of sorts, and so hearty that it might actually qualify as a stew. It is so very forgiving that ingredients can be added or omitted as you see fit.

1 pound raw Italian sausage (I prefer chicken or turkey)

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 28 oz. can diced tomatoes

1 quart of chicken stock

1 t dried basil

1/2 t dried oregano

1 bunch of black kale (or any kind of hearty green), washed well and thinly sliced (woody stems discarded)

the rind from a wedge of Parmesan cheese

1 C dried small ravioli pasta

1 can of cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

Remove sausage from casing and brown in a medium hot, heavy bottomed dutch oven, breaking apart the sausage with a spatula. Remove from pot and pour off all but 1 T fat. Reduce heat to medium low, and add onion and saute, stirring frequently, until onion is softened, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook 2 minutes more. Pour in tomatoes and stock and return the sausage to the pot, along with the herbs, kale and Parmesan cheese. Simmer, covered over low heat for about 30 minutes. Add in raviolis and cook for about 15-18 minutes, or until cooked through. Add beans and stir well, and continue to cook until beans are heated through, about 5 minutes more. If soup is too thick, add a cup of two more of water or stock. Remove any leftover rind chunks, ladle into bowls and top with grated Parmesan cheese.

Sausage and Wild Mushroom Pizza

I know that I have expressed my absolute adoration for sausage before. But I hope you'll forgive me, because this true and abiding love has provided us with so many delicious and memorable meals. And the weather outside is so very cold and dreary, that I thought it might be nice to heat up our taste buds with a spicy Italian sausage, wild mushroom and red onion pizza for dinner.

I found the recipe on the Bon Appetite website. I've made so many different kinds of pizzas lately, that I needed a bit of inspiration. The recipe calls for pressing finely grated cheese, along with fresh rosemary and red pepper flakes, right into the dough for extra flavor. The cheese is called Piave, and it is a slightly sweet, aged hard cow's milk cheese, much like a young Parmesan. If you are lucky enough to have a place in town where you can find specialty cheeses try this delicious one, but if you do not, regular Parmesan would be a fine substitute. Topped with browned sausage, sauteed mushrooms and caramelized onions, the end result is earthy and spicy, hearty and satisfying; a flavor-rich meal to enjoy with a glass of red wine by the fire.





Sausage and Wild Mushroom Pizza
adapted from Bon Appetite

1 recipe pizza dough
2 links spicy Italian sausage (I prefer turkey)
7 oz. wild mushrooms, scrubbed and thickly sliced
1 yellow onion, sliced into quarter inch thick rings
2 T olive oil
1/3 C grated Piave cheese (or Parmesan)
1/2 t red pepper flakes
1 t chopped fresh rosemary
3/4 C mozzarella cheese
2 T chopped parsley (optional)

Preheat oven to 500 degrees with a pizza stone on the lowest rack. Prepare dough according to directions (or buy pizza dough from the store...Trader Joe's makes an excellent one). Let dough rest for at least 20 minutes at room temperature. Flatten into a disk with your hand, then sprinkle on Piave cheese, red pepper flakes and 1/2 t chopped fresh rosemary. Roll out into about a 10 inch circle. Cover with a clean dish cloth and let rest while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.

Meanwhile, remove sausage from casing and brown in a heavy skillet over moderately high heat, breaking up with a spatula into large chunks. Remove from skillet and set aside. Reduce heat to medium low. In remaining rendered fat (or if there is none add a splash of olive oil), saute onions for about 15-20 minutes, until soft and quite caramelized. Remove to bowl and set aside. In remaining fat (or you might need to add another splash of olive oil) saute mushrooms with a pinch of salt until tender, about 5 minutes. Remove from pan.

Place pizza dough on a well floured pizza peel (from which you can slide it into the oven), parchment paper, or a floured pizza pan or baking sheet. Layer with 3/4 C shredded mozzarella cheese, onions, sausage, and mushrooms. Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 t chopped rosemary. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until crust is as crisp as you like (I like it really crisp). Sprinkle with chopped parsley, slice into wedges and serve.

Jambalaya

Girlfriends came over tonight, and despite the margaritas and glasses of wine, despite the cacophony of children in the background, and despite all the catch-up chatter, we managed to pull together a dinner, mostly from ingredients out of my freezer; chicken breasts, andouilli sausage (that came from a small sausage maker we visited last spring located near my dad in northern California), shrimps, and sliced bell peppers. It was a humble one pot meal, the best kind really, thrown together in a hurry and eaten with gusto.

This meal is one of my favorites, and the recipe is adapted from Cooking Light Magazine, although with the changes I've made I doubt it could qualify as "light."

Cajun Jambalaya

2 tablespoons canola oil
1 pound andouille sausage cut into (1/4-inch-thick) slices
3 cups finely chopped red bell pepper
3 cups finely chopped yellow onion
2 cups finely chopped celery
2 bay leaves
2 1/2 cups chopped skinless, boneless chicken breast
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 1/2 teaspoons finely chopped jalapeño pepper
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup tomato puree
2 3/4 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1 1/2 cups basmati rice
1 pound peeled and deveined shrimp (tail left on)
1/4 C chopped parsely

Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add sausage; cook until sizzling quiets (about 8 minutes), stirring occasionally.

Add bell pepper, onion, celery, and bay leaves; cook until vegetables are golden brown, sizzle loudly, and begin to squeak (about 14 minutes), stirring occasionally. Add chicken and next 8 ingredients (through garlic); cook 4 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add tomato puree; cook 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add broth, and bring to a boil. Stir in rice. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes. Add shrimp and push into rice slightly. Simmer for another 5 minutes. Discard bay leaves. Top with parsley.

Deep Dish Delight

It's Pizza Friday again. We skipped it last week, still suffering under the weight of so much turkey, stuffing and mashed potatoes. But having had about a week to recover, we were ready for some hearty fare tonight. This recipe differs from my usual pizza recipe in that it is cooked in my cast iron skillet, and loaded with diced tomatoes, spicy Italian turkey sausage, and plenty of mozzarella cheese. This is not ordinary thin-crust pizza. It is hot and gooey, and needs to be eaten with a fork and knife, at least if you do not wish to wear your dinner. This recipe, adapted from Gourmet Cookbook, is sure to please and makes a delicious meal on a cold night.

Deep Dish Chicago Style Pizza

Dough:

2 1/2 t yeast (or one package)

1/4 t sugar

1/2 C warm water (about 105°)

1 1/2 C flour

1/4 C cornmeal

1 T olive oil

1/2 t salt

Mix water, sugar and yeast in a bowl and let sit for 5 minutes, or until foamy. Stir in flour, cornmeal, salt and olive oil and turn out onto board and knead to combine. Continue kneading for about 5 minutes, or until the dough is smooth and elastic. Put in oiled bowl and flip to oiled side up. Cover with plastic and set aside to rise in a warm place until doubled in size for about 1 hour.

Filling:

14 oz. diced tomatoes (drained)

2 C mozzarella cheese, grated

1 t oregano

1/2 pound spicy turkey Italian sausage

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 500°.

Remove casing from sausage and crumble and brown in a heavy skillet (I use my 9 inch cast iron one...it should not be non-stick!). Stir in tomatoes and oregano and season with salt and pepper. Remove to a paper towel lined bowl to drain. Wipe out skillet and when dough has risen, punch it down and roll it out into a 10 inch circle. Grease skillet and press dough into bottom and up sides. Let rest, covered for 15 minutes. Sprinkle with 1 C of the cheese, add the sausage tomato mixture, and top with the remaining cup of cheese.

Bake at 500° degrees for 12 minutes. Turn down the heat to 400° and bake for 8 minutes more or until crust is golden and filling is bubbling hot.

Eat Your Greens!

But I'm telling you the same I tell kings and queens:

Don't ever never ever mess around with my greens!

Those words, in a hilarious rap by the witch in the 1986 musical, Into the Woods, stay with me every time I buy greens. In that scene a man sneaks over the witch's wall to steal greens for his pregnant wife, who is craving them. The witch catches the man and forces them to give up their child in exchange for the greens. The baby is born, and relinquished to the witch, who eventually locks her in a tall tower and climbs up her hair to visit her. The girl's name? Rapunzel, of course!

During my pregnancies the opposite was true; the thought of any green vegetables made me turn green. We had a beautiful lettuce patch in our yard when I was pregnant with my first, and I couldn't touch it. It was such a shame, all those beautiful baby lettuces, too much for my husband to eat alone, going to waste.

Now, realizing the nutritional value of greens, especially the dark, leafy kind, I try to serve them often. Chock full of vitamins A and C, iron and fiber, greens could be considered a super food. The farmers' markets are full of them this time of year and this Sunday I saw spinach, kale, mustard greens, collard greens, bok choy and more. But bitter foods (as most greens are) are not my favorites, so I try to prepare them in a way that makes them more palatable to me. Long braising, stir frying and concealing them in other foods (lasagna, for example) are some of the ways I like to eat my greens.

Tonight we will be having a soup with greens I purchased at the farmers' market (the lady told me it was mustard greens, but it looks more like kale to me), slices of white, butter potatoes and smoked sausage. This soup is served often on the East Coast, where large populations of Portuguese fishermen settled. It is thick and hearty, almost like a stew and it is traditionally prepared with chouriço or linguisa, but I had kielbasa on hand, so I will use that. Add a loaf of warm crusty bread, and you have a perfect meal for a cold night....if only it was cold. Ah, well...

Portuguese Kale Soup

1 pound of sausage, sliced (chouriço, linguisa or keilbasa all work fine)

3-4 large, waxy potatoes

1 onion, diced

2 cloves of garlic, minced

2 T olive oil

1 bunch of greens

1 can of cannelloni beans, rinsed (optional)

8 C chicken stock

Handful of Parmesan cheese

Drizzle olive oil into dutch oven and saute sausage over medium heat until browned. Add onion and garlic and saute until softened, about 8 minutes. Meanwhile, wash potatoes well and slice them into 1/4 inch circles. If they are very large, halve the circles. Wash greens well and tear them into bite-sized pieces, discarding any rough stems. Add potatoes, greens, beans, and chicken stock to pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 30-40 minutes. Serve in large bowls. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Duck-licious

Sunday is a day I look forward to because I get to make my trip (alone) to the farmer's market. It is there that I wander the stalls, enjoying the reprieve from our usual hectic weekends, chatting with friends and farmers alike. And it is there that I formulate our dinner menu for the week. Sunday afternoons, I usually begin preparing more time consuming dishes for our supper, a task I quite enjoy. It is my therapy, my relaxation, my creative outlet.

But this Sunday wasn't a usual one. Instead of the farmer's market, I was at the hospital, helping my mother discharge my dear 90 year old grandmother, who was suffering from yet another illness, and to top it off, I wasn't really feeling that great myself. It is hard to be motivated to shop for meals, much less prepare them when one is feeling "off" both emotionally and physically. I had planned a meal of butternut squash risotto for tonight, but that didn't sound good to either my husband or me.

So instead of the farmer's market, I settled for Whole Foods and wandered aimlessly around the store hoping to be "inspired." Searching for my muse, I pondered the fish counter, the vegetables, and pasta aisle to no avail. When I was passing by the meat counter, a small package caught my eye. It was whole duck legs from our local poultry farm. Intrigued, I picked them up, and recalled that my mother-in-law had prepared them with success last week. Suddenly relieved, I put the duck into my cart, along with some apple chicken sausage for the children and miscellaneous fruit that I wasn't able to get from the farmer's market, and rushed home to google recipes.

The end result was a satisfying, creamy risotto, topped with slow roasted, shredded duck with vegetables. It was perfect for a cold autumn evening. The best part about it was that even though the duck had to roast for two hours, it only took 5 minutes to prep, and my daughter babied the risotto for me (which needs frequent stirring). I braised the chicken apple sausages in unfiltered apple juice and they came out tender and succulent, in a slightly sweet, caramelized sauce that perfectly complimented the apples within.

Slow-roasted Duck Legs

1 onion, diced
3 carrots, diced
1 stalk of celery diced
2 duck legs (or 1 per person)
Chinese 5 spice powder
Salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 350.

Place the onion, carrots and celery in an oven-proof skillet (I like my cast iron one). Toss with a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper. Lay the duck legs on top and salt and pepper them, then sprinkle liberally with Chinese 5 spice powder.

Bake for 2 hours. Remove skin from duck and shred meat. Remove vegetables from pan with a slotted spoon and toss with duck meat. Reserve duck fat for another use (like roasting potatoes...yummy). Serve over risotto.


Basic Risotto

2 C Arborio rice
1 shallot, diced
1 clove of garlic, minced
olive oil
a pour of dry white wine
8 cups (or so) of hot chicken or vegetable broth
a handful of Parmesan cheese

Drizzle olive oil in the bottom of a large saucepan. Saute shallot, garlic and arborio rice until rice is opaque. Pour in some white wine (about 1/4C) and stir over medium low heat until wine is absorbed. Add one cup of broth and stir frequently until absorbed. After that add broth in 1/2 C increments and stir until absorbed. After about 25 minutes, taste rice to see if it is done. It should be creamy and saucy, but still have a bite. There may be some broth left over. Stir in a handful of grated Parmesan cheese. Serves 4.


Braised Chicken Apple Sausages

1 pound of chicken apple sausages (raw)
1 C unfiltered apple juice or cider (hard or soft)

Place sausages into frying pan and pour over apple juice. Heat to boiling and reduce heat and simmer, uncovered for 10 minutes. If apple juice is getting low, add a splash more at this point. Cover and simmer on medium low for 10 minutes more. Uncover, flip sausages, and if necessary add a splash more juice and simmer for 5-10 minutes or until sausages are cooked through. Sauce will thicken and cook down until quite caramelized, but be careful not to burn sauce. If it is getting too dark at any point, just add a splash more juice. These would be great with mashed potatoes, but my kids had to settle for risotto.

At Market...Gai-Lan

Each week, when I am at the local farmers market, I try to buy something that I have never prepared before. One benefit of buying directly from farmers themselves, is that questions can be asked about the produce; everything from what the vegetable or fruit is, to how best to prepare it.

There is one particular vendor at our market who drives all the way from Fresno, which is a good 2 1/2 hours away. The entire family comes to help, including their teenage sons, and they sell many interesting varieties of vegetables and herbs. Their produce is so beautiful and fragrant, and all of it is grown without pesticides. I love to go to their stall and just smell the gorgeous herbs; lemon basil, cilantro, Thai basil, purple basil and lemongrass. They are true "poly-culture" farmers and have an astounding variety of produce throughout the year including English peas, pea shoots, snap peas, yellow, purple and green string beans, Opo squash, tiny eggplants, Chinese spinach, spicy Thai chilis, corn, tomatoes, watermelons, pumpkins, zucchini, and lately Chinese broccoli or Gai-Lan.

Gai-Lan is very similar to broccoli rabe and belongs to the crucifer family as do cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower. It has a dark green, leafy stalk with little green or yellow buds resembling broccoli. It is slightly more bitter than broccoli and its tough, stringy stalks need to be peeled before cooking. I thought that instead of sauteing it with an oyster sauce, as is the typical preparation in Chinese households, I would substitute it for broccoli rabe in the famous Italian dish from Puglia, Broccoli Rabe with Orecchiette. I'm happy to report that the results were delicious! Here is the recipe.

Pasta with Spicy Sausage and Chinese Broccoli

1 bunch Chinese broccoli or broccoli rabe

1 pound of spicy Italian sausage
1/2 C chicken broth

1/4 C freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1 pound of pasta (orecchiette is traditional but small shells, mini fusilli or farfalli work well too)

Set plenty of salted water to boil for pasta. Wash Gai-Lan, peel stem ends and slice into one inch segments. Set aside.

Meanwhile, slice open sausages and remove from casing. Break apart in frying pan over medium heat and brown. After sausage is cooked add 1/2 C chicken broth and simmer gently for 5 minutes.

When pasta water for pasta has come to a boil, add pasta. Set timer for 5 minutes before the pasta should be finished cooking. When timer goes off add Gai-Lan to the boiling water and cook together with the pasta for the remaining cooking time. Drain pasta and Gai-Lan and add to frying pan with browned sausage and toss to combine. Sprinkle cheese over and serve.