Orecchiette alla cime di rapa

The paring of cime di rapa and orecchiette is classically Italian. Cime di rapa is otherwise known as turnip tops, but they taste nothing of turnips. ‘Chard-like’ comes to mind, with their slightly bitter and earthy taste. Bitter and earthy suits me fine, but if you like your greens sweet and mellow use broccoli, greens, cabbage or spinach instead. All will be good.

Prepare and blanch the cime di rapa: Separate the delicate leaves from the stalks. Use all the stalk and flowering bud – just leaving the thickest and the toughest part of the base for the recycling bin. Roughly chop the leaves and the stalks. Blanch the stalks in boiling water for 3 minutes then add the leaves and cook for a further 2 minutes. Retain a cup of cooking liquid. Drain and plunge quickly in cold water to set the colour and stop the cooking.

Make the sauce: Chop the shallot, chilli and garlic into a fine dice and chop the pepper into a slightly larger dice. Add a little olive oil to a pan and fry the shallot, chilli and pepper on medium high heat for 5 minutes, then add the garlic and continue to fry for a further 3 minutes, add the anchovies and stir for half a minute, then add the wine or stock and about 125ml of the cime di rapa cooking liquid. Stir to dissolve the anchovies and cook for 3 further minutes. Place the sauce into a bowl and set aside.

Cook the orecchiette: Follow the instruction on the pack but ensure they are al dente. Drain reserving some of the liquid.

Braise the cime di rapa: Heat the pan and add a little olive oil and a knob of butter, then add the greens and fry for about 4-5 minutes until warmed through and tender. Add the sauce and stir to heat.

Assemble the dish: Add the pasta to the sauce and toss, season to taste with salt and pepper and a squeeze of lemon. Dress with more olive oil and serve with crusty bread.