Our neighbor Armando took Art with him to his orto today, and Art returned with a boatload of spinach and rape. I guess I’ll make a ricotta/spinach/egg/cheese mixture for cannelloni, but I’m at a complete loss about the rape. As best I can figure it’s a bitter sort of green….sort of like a turnip green without the turnip. Any suggestion?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: AliceTwain,

Reading the subject I though "Oh, hell! She must call the police NOW!" Than I noticed it was in the food board...
So, you mean this kind of rape? There are several kinds.

Meanwhile I did a little editing of the subject.

do you mean broccoli di rape? If so, they're delicious sauteed with some olive oil and garlic and you can serve them as a side to salsiccia (sausage)! Buon Appetito!
Maria

Oh are you in for a treat!

Rape is called broccoli rabe (pronounced "rob") in english. Sometimes in English and Italian its called rapini.
It's not actually a type of broccoli, but it is in the same family of plants - the brassica genus (cabbage genus)

Over medium heat in a saute pan wilt it down with some olive oil, garlic and pepperoncini and serve it warm as a side dish. If you like to braise stuff, after a quick saute, braise it in some chicken stock, add some olives and voila -side dish.

Or wilt it with the olive oil, garlic and pepperoncini, then toss it with pasta (some short a stubby like campanelle or orrichiette) and some cooked sausage or leave out the sausage and just top with some grated grana.

YOu can also use it in a stir-fry. And if you are want an easy way out, you can straight up steam it and do whatever with it.

Or wilt it down with just a little oil, bring back to room temperature and put it into a fritatta with some roasted red peppers and chevre. this way is super-yummy.

For all cooking methods- saute, braise, steam, stir-fry -- do so until tender.

Basically, you can treat rape like you would chard. It just has a totally different taste, so it is a fun and different route to take.

Happy Cooking!

Ah! Cime di rapa! Ok, much clearer.

You can use them to make pasta. Clean them removing the harder parts (older leaves, bottom of the stems, "skin" of the younger stems). Wash carefully. Place them in a pot of boiling water with some salt. Boil for a few minutes. Dump in the water some orecchiette (you can buy them!) or another type of pasta of your choice. Meanwhile, sauté a garlic clove and 2-3 anchovies in some oil. Drain the pasta and vegetables and toss them with the other condiments.

Try steaming or boiling them - after cleaning and chopping 'em up. Then drain them well and squeeze out excess liquid.
Put just a little oil in a frying pan on a quite high heat - add the cima di rape evenly in the pan letting it brown but not burn. Turn and do the other side. In the meantime beat 2/3 eggs with a pinch of salt and about 150ml of milk. Add to this mixture plenty (to taste) of grated cheese - parmigiano/pecorino 'whatever'. Pour this all over the rape, carefully tipping the pan to ensure that it covers all the veg. Lower the heat slightly and allow the egg mixture to harden. Then either turn the whole thing over and do the other side, or pop it under a hot grill.
I use this method for any green vegetables, but I do like it for rape, spinach or erbette.

Okay, I['m confused and maybe everyone else is too....what I have are long leaves, dark green. Maybe 24" long? Definitely not broccoli.

Yes what you have is NOT broccoli. It is rape, aka rapini, aka broccoli rabe. Like I said in my earlier post, it is from the same genus, and names of things do get etymologically fun over time. But you are right it is not broccoli. ALL of the recipes that myself, Alice, and Carole put up will work for what you've got there. For my suggestions, I forgot to put in the trimming off of old leaves and really tough parts -due to my days working in restaurants, I do that on auto-pilot to prep any type of green...and lots of times forget to tell people that when giving cooking ideas. sorry!

Leaves only?! They should have at least tiny boccoli buds on top. If they don't they may be Neapolitan friarielli, but they would be out of season... Unless... Could they be cavolo nero? If that's the case, it's time for ribollita and farinata con le leghe.

Her's a picture with a pen lying on the floor to give you some idea of the size....

Almost cime di rapa, almost friarielli. They are rapa leaves only. I think Luca's mother boils them, than squeezes off them water and minces them thinly and sautées them with oil, garlic, red pepper, and a little thyme. To speed things up, you may boil and mince them all, than make portions to be stored in the freezer, ready to be sautéed. I would also try to make a "torta salata" pie with them, mixed with ricotta, an egg and some Parmigiano Reggiano than hidden ina crust of your choice.

quote:

Originally posted by Barb (and Art):
Our neighbor Armando took Art with him to his orto today, and Art returned with a boatload of spinach and rape. I guess I’ll make a ricotta/spinach/egg/cheese mixture for cannelloni, but I’m at a complete loss about the rape. As best I can figure it’s a bitter sort of green….sort of like a turnip green without the turnip. Any suggestion?

My wife and I are originally from Alabama, so shortly after we arrived in Italy about eleven years ago, we were seriously Jonesing for some turnip greens. We didn't know they sold them over here, but one day we were driving and saw two fellows in a muddy field. We slowed to figure out what they were doing and it dawned on me, "They're pulling Turnips!" We screeched to a halt and ran through the mud to the men. They seemed puzzled by our sudden appearance but understood the situation when we begged them to sell us the fogli they were discarding (they were keeping only the turnips). They gave us two huge shopping bags full and laughed that we wanted them. They told us most Italians don't eat them, only the very poor.

Anyway just clean them over and over, boil them with a hunk of fatback, sprinkle a little vinegar with hot peppers in the bottle, and serve with blackeyed peas, sweet potatoes and corn bread.

Buon appetito!
Bill

Can you find sweet potatoes here!!! Where??? I'm starting to plan my "Thanksgiving dinner" already! Haven't seen any in my neck of the woods...

Supermarkets carry sweet potatoes. At least there in Milano they do.

Farinata pistoiese

600 grams of rape or cavolo nero leaves
200 grams dried beans (I like borlotti, but the beans to use are supposed to be the whie cannellini) (300 grams frozen ones)
1 large onion
200 grams polenta flour
60 grams of pancetta (not smoked, no bacon!)
A couple tablespoons of EVO oil
Salt

If you are using dried beans, soak them overnight in water, than boil them adding a pinch of "bicarbonato" (baking soda?) to soften them.
In a separate pot, boil the rape of cavolo nero leaves. Drain them but do not throw away the water. Cut them in strips or just mince them, as you prefer.
In a third pan, heat the opil and fry the diced pancetta, than add the onion, thinly cut, and cook until golden.
Replace the leaves in the pot with the water, add the beans (you may add the beans' water, or better keep it handy and hot until the soup is done in case you need to thin it) and the fried pancetta and onion, with all the fat.
Wait until the mixture resumes boiling, than slowly add the polenta flour. We say it must be added "a pioggia", like rain, almost sprinkled bit by bit in the pot, in order to prevent it to bunch in hard knots. Sir well, and cook for 30 minutes more, stirring from time to time at first, and continuosly towards the end.

The result should be a thick soup, to be eaten with a spoon. Leftovers (this should be amough for 4 large portions or 6 small ones) can be placed in a deep dish ald left to cool. The next day, the farinata will have become harder and can b cut in slices and fried (or roasted over the fire). I prefer to treat it differently, though.
I use small aluminium pans, of the kind that you throw away after use. I smear them with a little butter, than add two ladlefuls of the still warm soup (aka not too hard). I cover it with thin slices of cheese (fontina, toma, bitto, or similar) and a sprinkle of grated Parmigiano Reggiano. Two more ladlefuls of soup, another sprinkle of grated Parmigiano Reggiano and a little butter (a few ponches here and there, I usually place three). This amounts to about two portions of soup.
I wait until it has cooled off, than store it in the freezer (covered with the pan's lid or a piece of foil!). When I feel like it, I heat it in the traditional oven (no microwaves), on moderate heat, for 25 minutes. For the first 15 minutes or so I leave the lid or foil on, than I remove it to let the top part get crunchier.