Broccoli Rabe Steakhouse Recipe

This recipe comes from The Palm Restaurant Cookbook by Brigit Legere Binns. Broccoli rabe is a strong, bitter green, so it can handle lots of flavor. Which is why I really enjoy this treatment. 

1.25 pounds broccoli raab, tough lower stems trimmed
2 tablespoons olive oil
6 large cloves garlic, crushed with the side of a large, heavy knife
.5 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

We’ll start with taking care of the greens, cutting off the tough lower stems. Then you can clean them and throw them in a pot of boiling, salted water. Cook for 4 minutes, until they’re barely tender. Let them drain and place on a baking sheet lined with paper towels. If I want to freeze them, here’s where I’d stop. I’ll let them cool and put them to a freezer-safe bag. 

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees and heat some olive oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Add cloves of crushed garlic and saute until golden, without burning them. Should be about 3 minutes. Add some salt and crushed red pepper flakes and stir for a minute. Then add the blanched broccoli rabe, reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, occasionally turning, for another 3minutes, without browning the greens. 

Lightly oil a shallow baking dish large enough to hold the broccoli rabe in one layer. Transfer the broccoli rabe to the baking dish. At first, it looks like I don’t have enough to cover the bottom, but once I spread out the greens, literally in a single layer, I can cover the full 9x13 lasagna pan. And we’ll scatter some shredded cheese like Parmesan or Parmigiano about a cup or more if you really like cheese. and bake it for 6-8 minutes, until the cheese is crisped and golden. 

It doesn’t look like much once the greens are cooked down, but a small serving suffices. The greens require a lot of chewing, so a little goes a long way!