Making the Most of it: Rapini-tossed pasta

A couple months ago, when the sun was still out and the grill was always on, we purchased two amazing lamb shoulder steaks from our Hannewald's for a dinner feast. We featured these with grilled farmer's market peppers, a freshly made mint and parsley sauce, and grilled corn polenta cakes.

The polenta cakes were by far the featured player this night. We sauteed some finely diced onions and garlic in a skillet with a bit of butter, then added two ears of fresh corn into the mix to cook very lightly. We added some dried seasonings to our tastes. Meanwhile, we cooked some polenta according to the directions on the package. When the polenta was nice and thick, we stirred in the corn and then poured the whole pot of polenta into a greased baking dish to set.

When set, we then cut it into little squares, brushed them with oil, and plonked them on the grill next to the meat. The meat, which was minimally seasoned, was a perfect companion to these savory bites of corn -- on the grill, the cakes got a nice sear on the outside. They were also great heated up the next day.


Needless to say, with the size of those lamb steaks, we had a lot left over. In fact, we had an entire steak left over. When we returned from the farmer's market with a big bunch of rapini (broccoli raab), we made a pasta with the veggies and lamb as a nice, finish-your-leftovers meal. Rapini is one of those bunches of greens at the market--kale, swiss chard, and other leafy guys I see fall into this category too--that I was not quite sure what to do with for the longest time. This year, we have been enjoying a bounty of leafy greens, thanks in part to a wonderful "eat local" cookbook we picked up earlier this summer. (Also in part to some trial and error with different types of recipes. You have to learn somehow, right?) Anyway, this meal ended up great. Here's how we did it.

• Cut the thick, woody stalks off of a large bunch of rapini (I would guess that we had about a pound or so). Wash the leaves well.
• Boil the rapini in some lightly salted water till the stalks are tender. Then, take it out of the water and cool it under cold water. When it' cool enough, wring out all the water from the leaves.
• Boil your spaghetti according to the package.
• Meanwhile, roughly chop the rapini (think chopped spinach). Chop up some garlic, too.
• Heat some olive oil, throw in the garlic (you can also add onions, and red pepper flakes should you desire) and then the chopped rapini. Season it to your tastes and really coat it well. This is where we added our leftover lamb, chopped up into small pieces.
• When the spaghetti is done, drain it. Toss the rapini mix into the spaghetti and maybe drizzle some more olive oil over all of it to get it going. Serve with a nice squeeze of lemon and lots of parmesan.
  

You can see that this dish is quick and easy. Omit the lamb and the cheese, and you have a vegetarian, lactose-free meal. Tasty and flexible - excellent!