Bowtie Pasta With Sausage & Broccoli Rabe

In an effort to eat a little bit healthier (and to counteract the leftover birthday cake) we made this pasta dish.  It'd probably be even better with turkey or chicken sausage, but none of the selection at the store today looked that tasty.  We'd never tried broccoli rabe before, but thought it was pretty good, like a cross between spinach and broccoli.

For this dish, start by heating 2 tablespoon of olive oil in a dutch oven over medium-high heat.  When the oil is heated, add 5 sliced links of hot Italian sausages.

Cook until sausage starts to brown (don't worry about them cooking all the way through), then add 1 heaping tablespoon of chopped garlic.

Cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly so the garlic doesn't burn. Then add 1/2 cup of red wine and 1 can of crushed tomatoes (1 large can or 2 smaller ones), along with a handful of freshly chopped Italian parsley and basil.

When liquid starts to bubble, turn heat down to low.  Continue to cook until ready to eat (the longer the better!). It should reduce and thicken the sauce.  Taste to seasoning.  

Meanwhile, wash and de-stem the broccoli rabe.

In a large stockpot, boil some salted water.  Add the broccoli rabe and cook for 2-3 minutes, or until starting to wilt.

Then using a pasta scooper, add the broccoli rabe to the sauce (it's ok if some of the cooking liquid gets in the sauce too).

In the same stock pot, cook 1/2 box of Barilla Plus bowtie until al dente.  When pasta is cooked, strain and add to the same pot as the sauce (it allows the pasta to absorb the sauce better than just scooping it on top).

Serve with fresh herbs and grated parmesan.