Chicken Sausage Penne
with broccoli rabe / garlic breadcrumbs
Bitter notes of broccoli rabe are balanced by savory chicken sausage in this quick pasta. For a satisfying crunch, the entire dish is topped with homemade garlic butter breadcrumbs.
Ingredients
- Broccoli rabe (also called rapini; sub broccoli florets) - 12 oz, chopped
- Garlic - 2 cloves, chopped
- Sausage, chicken (preferably pre-cooked; sub any variety sausage) - 1 lb, casings removed (if applicable) and sliced
- Pasta, penne - 10 oz
- Butter - 1 Tbsp
- Panko breadcrumbs - 1/2 cup
- Oil, cooking - 1 Tbsp
- Red pepper flakes (opt) - 1/4 tsp
- Lemons - 1/2, zest of
Nutrition Facts
Prep
- Broccoli rabe / Garlic / Sausage - Prep as directed. Store in separate containers. (Can be done up to 2 days ahead)
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Make
- Bring a saucepan of water to boil. Salt generously and add pasta. Cook until al dente, tender but not soggy. Drain.
- While pasta is cooking, heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add butter. When butter melts, add garlic and breadcrumbs and saute until breadcrumbs are golden and fragrant, ~2 minutes. Season with a pinch of salt and transfer to a bowl.
- Return pan to heat and add oil. When oil begins to shimmer, add sausage and saute until golden brown, ~3 minutes for pre-cooked sausage (a few minutes longer for uncooked sausage). Transfer to a plate and return pan to heat. Add broccoli rabe and saute until bright green and tender, ~2 minutes (a few minutes longer for broccoli florets).
- Add sausage back to pan along with cooked pasta. Stir to heat everything through, ~1 minute.
- Top pasta with black pepper (preferably fresh-cracked), red pepper flakes, lemon zest and finish with breadcrumbs. Enjoy!
Nutrition Facts
Reviews
Ratings
112 reviews
I thought this dish was pretty good. After reading everyone's comments about the dryness, I added a tablespoon of butter to the pasta, and then added some white wine and parmesan. It worked out pretty well.
6 of 10. It was okay. Added some Alfredo sauce to try and give it some moisture. Not especially a fan of the breadcrumbs on top. There are so many great recipes on this site, I don't think I'll make this one again.