Chef Michael Bonacini’s recipe for a classic Apulian pasta dish – Orecchiette with Rapini. Michael uses his thumb to shape the homemade pasta into little ears, then cooks a sweet garlic and spicy chili sauce that plays off the sharpness of the rapini.
4 servings
INGREDIENTS
2 cups (470 ml) flour
¾ cups (180 ml) semolina flour
½ teaspoon (2.5 ml) salt
¾ cup (180 ml) warm water
1 pound (454 g) rapini
6 tablespoons (90 ml) olive oil, plus more for drizzling
3 garlic cloves, sliced
1 teaspoon (5 ml) pepper flakes
½ cup (120 ml) pine nuts
Grated lemon peel
Grated parmesan, for serving
Salt
INSTRUCTIONS
To make the pasta, sift together flour and semolina flour in a bowl. Make a well in the centre of the flours.
In a separate bowl, dissolve the salt in the water. Pour the salt water into the well in the flour. Pull flour in from the sides of the bowl to the centre, mixing together, then kneading until the dough is smooth and elastic.
Break off pieces of the dough and roll into thin logs. Cut each log into rounds. Put a round in your palm, then press your thumb into it to form an indent. Set on a baking tray dusted with semolina to dry for a minimum of 1 hour. Repeat with the rest of the dough.
Bring a large pot of well salted water to a rolling boil. Add the rapini and cook until tender, 5-6 minutes. Drain.
In a separate pot of boiling, well-salted water, cook dried orecchiette until pasta is almost al dente, 4-5 minutes. Drain, but reserve ½ cup (120 ml) of pasta water.
In a skillet over medium-high heat, heat olive oil. Add garlic, pepper flakes, and pine nuts and fry until fragrant, 1-2 minutes. Add cooked rapini and pasta. Toss to coat. Add grated lemon peel. Add reserved pasta water, then swirl and toss the contents of the pan to form a silky sauce.
Serve sprinkled with parmesan and drizzled with olive oil.
