Broccoli Rabe with Shrimp and Farro

For some broccoli rabe can be an acquired taste: partially because it can be bitter and also for textural reasons if it feels slimy on your tongue.

Let me back up, do we need a lesson on what the stuff is? Broccoli rabe (also known as rapini) is as I mentioned a bitter, leafy green vegetable. It's in the Brassica family along with cabbage, kale, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, collard greens, kohlrabi, turnip, Bok choy, Chinese cabbage, rutabaga and rapeseed. Needless to say, like its relatives, it carries quite a nutritional punch.

I happen to love the stuff but haven't done much cooking with it because my man is not a fan. That said, after a New Year's Eve entree of sausage and broccoli rabe, I noticed he showed a mild tolerance for it and therefore I decided to push the envelope by preparing broccoli rabe with some shrimp and farro as a main course.

Beating the Bitterness

Blanching in salt water and not overcooking the green is the one-two punch to ensure less bitterness and less sliminess. The method is 1-3 minutes in well-salted boiling water that has a splash of lemon juice in it, then, strain into a colander and into an ice bath to stop the cooking. It doesn't get much easier than that.

Once it's cooled, it's ready to add to any dish.

Keep in mind that this dish was a total experiment on a day when I just needed to play in the kitchen and wanted to prove to my husband that broccoli rabe could actually taste and feel good in your mouth.

I didn't want to overcook the broccoli rabe by stir frying it in garlic and oil, but I also didn't want to forego that flavor -- in whatever this experiment turned out to be.

I decided to saute minced garlic in olive oil and butter and to add some lemon zest to the mix. I ultimately divided the zest of 1 lemon in half and used half in the saute and the other half to finish the dish.

Once my garlic and lemon mixture was reaching a nice golden color, I added some white wine and the juice of that lemon I had zested.

As I'm typing, it occurs to me that this dish couldn't get much easier to prepare, The only thing that comes even close to cooking is the garlic sauce saute -- otherwise if you can boil water, you can make this dish.

After blanching and removing the greens, I cooked the farro in the salted water from the greens and set that aside with the greens until I was ready to 'assemble' the ingredients. I also reserved the cooking water from the farro and greens.

Oh, and the shrimp was store bought precooked and flash frozen, so I thawed them is cold water while I was doing all the other prepping.

When it came time to serve, I reheated the skillet with the garlic, lemon, and wine saute, added the cooked farro and tossed it with the Parmesan and pepper. Once everything was combined I added some of the cooking water which emulsified the liquids into a nice creamy sauce.

Finally, I stirred in the shrimp to heat them, added the broccoli rabe stirring until it was also warmed without cooking it further. The last finishing step was to sprinkle some more cheese and the remaining lemon zest.

THE RECIPE:

1 bunch of broccoli rabe

Salt for boiling water

1/4C reconstituted lemon juice

1C uncooked farro

1 stick of butter

1/4C olive oil

2-3T minced fresh garlic

1/2 salt

1/2C dry white wine

2t crushed red pepper

1t cracked pepper

Zest of 1 lemon separated

Juice of 1 lemon

1-1/2C grated Parmesan cheese separated.

1LB cooked and frozen medium sized shrimp

Prepping Ingredients

Place the shrimp into a bowl of cold water to thaw.

Put the farro in a bowl and cover with water to rinse.

Zest and juice the lemon and divide zest in half.

Blanch the Broccoli Rabe

Add 1/4 cup reconstituted lemon juice to a pot of well-salted water and set it on the stove to boil

Rinse and trim the broccoli rabe to remove the thick tough stems and cut it into 1-2" lengths

When the water is boiling, add the broccoli rabe and let it boil for 1-2 minutes and then get the greens strained out and into an ice bath before a total of 3 minutes has passed. A wire mesh strainer, spider, or slotted spoon will work.

Set the greens aside and return the water to a boil.

Cooking the Farro

Drain the farro from the water it's been soaking in and add it to the boiling water from the greens and cook until tender.

When the farro is tender, reserve 2 cups of the cooking water before draining the farro.

Drain and set the farro aside.

Preparing the Sauce

In a large skillet, melt the butter into the olive oil.

Add a shake or two of salt and the minced garlic

Saute until the garlic gets aromatic and begins to turn golden in color

Add the lemon juice, white wine, cracked and crushed peppers, and half of the lemon zest and simmer for 5 minutes stirring often.

At this point, you can set everything aside until 10 minutes before mealtime of continue and serve in ten minutes.

Finish and Serve

With the garlic sauce mixture simmering over low heat, add the farro and stir to combine and heat

Add 1 cup of the grated cheese and stir until combined.

Add the cooking water gradually 1/4 cup at a time stirring constantly until it emulsifies with the cheese into a creamy sauce.

Stir in the thawed shrimp stirring until the are warmed.

Stir in the greens to combine and warm without overcooking

Sprinkle the remaining cheese and lemon zest

Gently toss and serve.