Saturday, November 22, 2008

Broccoli Rabe

I'm hosting Thanksgiving Dinner in a few days and although I've been planning a menu for weeks, it was only this past week that I started experimenting with some lighter side dishes to complement all the rich accompaniments to join the turkey on our table.

My utmost favorite vegetable would have to be broccoli rabe and so the other day I thought of adding some greens to our Thanksgiving Dinner with this flavorful veggie. Saute these bitter greens in a bit of olive oil and some minced garlic and they make a perfect side dish as is--I can probably eat an entire bunch myself every day. But dress them with some toasted pine nuts, Marsala and a handful of raisins and these tender stalks are near perfection. Not to mention that they will complement any turkey dinner flawlessly.




Broccoli Rabe with Toasted Pine Nuts and Sultana Raisins
2 bunches broccoli rabe
1/4 cup pine nuts
1/4 cup olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/3 cup Marsala
1/3 cup sultana raisins
Salt and pepper to taste
Trim broccoli rabe and rinse. Blanch in a pot of boiling water for 2 to 3 minutes until bright green. Remove from pot and plunge in ice water. Remove to colander and let drain.
Heat oil in a large skillet and add pine nuts. Cook until just golden and then stir in garlic. Over medium high heat, add Marsala and bring to a boil. Stir in raisins and cook for a minute more. Add broccoli rabe to skillet and cook until heated through. Season with salt and pepper and serve.




13 comments:

Peter G | Souvlaki For The Soul said...

I'm all for this dish Maria! Simple, tasty and quick...perfect for the forthcoming celebrtions!

Elly said...

This looks great, Maria. I would love this on my Thanksgiving table :) I admit I am not a big broccoli fan but I do really enjoy rabe! I guess I like the bitterness. And I love anything with pine nuts. In fact we had something similar to this the other night with chard instead of rabe, and with a little lemon.

Lulu Barbarian said...

I love the grapes to complement the bitterness!

Laurie Constantino said...

Funny - we had this very thing for dinner tonight, except without the marsala, which I'll try next time I make it. Nothing better than bitter greens with raisins and pine nuts. YUM!

Ivy said...

What a great idea to add pine nuts and raisins. We are not really fans of broccoli but I'd love to try this combination.

Peter M said...

Maria, it was wonderful meeting you and your husband, your parea and dining and dancing together!

I too love rapini and the pine nuts and sultanas give it a "festive" touch.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving week.

Maria said...

Thank you all for your comments. I've managed to come down with my second cold over the last three weeks (or maybe the first one just never really went away) so I have been feeling awful and barely posting any recipes at all. Hopefully, I'll get back to business the next couple of days.

Peter M: the pleasure was all ours! We had a great time and I only wish we could have met again. Maybe we'll take a trip up towards Toronto next!

Ivy said...

I'm back. There's an award for you on my blog.

Rosie said...

This looks a beautiful colour and very tasty. I really like what you have done here with broccoli :)

Rosie x

Maria Verivaki said...

this dish looks so pretty on the blue and white plate - each ingredient comeplements each other

Anonymous said...

I saw your pic with Peter! So cute... Can I use normal broccoli? I don;t think I can find rabe here (we get the green and purple varieties only)

Lori Lynn said...

I like the idea of Marsala in this dish.

Lori Lynn
P.S. Peter sent me.

Maria said...

Thank you Rosie, Mediterranean Kiwi and Lori Lynn for dropping by!

Jo, I think some sort of leafy "horto" would work better than regular broccoli. I've often looked for broccoli rabe (which I think we call "vrouves" in Greek, right?!) when I am in Greece in the summers, but have never had any luck.