culinary flights of fancy

Home Cooking Adventures in Berkeley Heights

Tag Archives: broccoli rabe


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Seared Ribeye with Polenta, Broccoli Rabe, and Spring Vegetables

Colorful spring vegetables coupled with rare, sliced ribeye and naturally creamy polenta.

Colorful spring vegetables coupled with rare, sliced ribeye and naturally creamy polenta.

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I’ve mentioned this before but I’ll say it again:  ribeye is by far my favorite cut of steak.  Here, it is rubbed with a few spices, cooked rare, and then cut into strips.  Cutting the steak into strips is a great way to enjoy beef without eating a huge amount.  Instead, you get the flavor of the beef and enhance the flavor with fresh vegetables of the season.  The extra bonus about serving beef this way is that you cut down on how much you need to purchase.  In fact, in this case, a large 16 ounce steak can serve four.  I chose a simple pan cooked broccoli rabe which has a subtle bitterness to play off the sweeter corn based polenta.  The raw tomatoes add color and some acidity and the whole thing is then simply garnished with a sprinkling of raw, thinly sliced spring onions.  I finished the dish with just a touch of heated veal stock to bring a light sauce and more meatiness to the dish.  If you don’t have veal stock, you can certainly skip it all together or if you prefer, simply drizzle just a touch of olive oil over the top.  Either way, you can’t go wrong!  Recipe follows after the jump… Continue reading →


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Italian Sausage Meatballs with Broccoli Rabe in Jersey Tomato Mariana Sauce

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A few weeks back I posted a recipe for my version of tomato sauce using Jersey tomatoes.  At the same time, one of our neighbors posted something on Facebook that she and her husband and extended family were all making large amounts of sauce.  I was interested and commented about it and then that afternoon they came over with a freshly pressed jar of their family recipe for tomato sauce.  I was very excited to receive the sauce as I thought it was very cool that a family has a tradition of making sauce and preserving the vegetables of summer together.  So, I was excited to try it and as such, I used that sauce for this dish…it was very tasty btw.  However, if you made the sauce from a few weeks ago, you can certainly use that or simply take a good quality can of tomatoes and crush them and simmer them slowly over a low flame with some garlic, olive oil, salt, basil, and red pepper flake and you will have a great sauce in a matter of minutes.  Either way, you will need about a quart or so of tomato sauce as the meatballs are sort of braised for about a half hour or so in the sauce.

Also, in the pizza extravaganza post, I outlined a general recipe for making your own Italian sausage.  I used this recipe for the start of the Italian sausage meatballs.  If you don’t wish to make your own sausage per that recipe, you can certainly use store bought Italian sausage…just take the meat out of the casings and combine it all together with the rest of the ingredients and go from there.

Broccoli rabe is one of my more favorite vegetables.  It’s delicate yet firm and has a bit of a bitter taste.  I flash cooked it in a bit of water first and then added it to the sauce at the very end to finish.

You can go a number of different ways with the dish from here.  I simply served it with a bit of bread and we ate it as is.  However, tossing the sauce with some pasta would be great and it certainly would make a great Italian sandwich with a few roasted peppers and possibly some provolone cheese on a toasted piece of Italian bread or a bun.  Actually you could also make a pizza out of it too though the sauce would need to be thickened more than is pictured.  At any rate, I think you can see that there are a lot of options for this versatile dish.

As for the tomato sauce itself that I used here…thanks again (you know who you are).  I have your jar ready to roll; I simply haven’t gotten it back to you but will do so soon.

I hope you enjoy this dish as much as my wife and I did!  Recipe follows after the jump… Continue reading →


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Trio of Summer Vegetables as Toppings for Bread or Crostini

This was published in the Alternative Press today.  Here is the article and recipe with an extra picture for your viewing pleasure!  Enjoy.

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Trio of Early Summer Vegetables as Toppings for Bread or Crostini

 

I made this basic dish for a neighborhood gathering last week and it seemed to be a hit. A couple neighbors even asked for the recipes of the various toppings. The stars here are ingredients that I either purchased directly from the Farmer’s Market in Summit or received from the farm via the Just Farmed program out of Westfield. I showcased local, seasonal ingredients: broccoli rabe, baby fennel, spring onions, and mushrooms. I also utilized three different cooking techniques: roasting, sauteing, and marinating raw vegetables. In doing so, the flavors and textures of the three dishes really became distinct, unto themselves. This dish can be completed easily within an hour if time is utilized properly. The vegetables can be made ahead of time as all three are served either warm or at room temperature. Serve with toasted bread drizzled with olive oil and accented with salt and pepper or simply serve with fresh, crusty bread cut thickly so that it can stand up to the heaviness of the toppings.  The recipes as well as a zoomed in photo of the veggies  follow after the jump! Continue reading →