October – November, 2025

Porkchops with Miso, Apples and Sage

Blast from the 1960s: Spaghetti with Meat Sauce

Reverse-Seared Pork Roast with Apples and Shallots

Drunken Shrimp

Danny Meyers Orecchiette with Broccoli Rabe and Sausage

Lend Me Your Ears

Have you noticed that there have been no posts to whatwecookedlastweek for some time?  I didn’t think so, but shame on you for telling me.  That break has given me the time to catch up on some long-term projects.  I finally taught myself Mandarin, I’ve run two marathons and climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro – oh,  and I walked the entire Camino de Santiago, not in Lent, which would have been ideal – but, hey, you do what you can with the time available to you.

And then there was Hilda’s marvelous dinner party for the Pink Putters and spouses and great nephew Conor’s wedding in Bethesda and a lovely day reminiscing with Beez at Georgetown, with Mass at Holy Trinity and a nostalgic drink and dinner at The Tombs.

 

But here we are back at your service ready to carry on after a much-needed rest and some confusion about how this app really works. 

And here’s a confession which will come as no news to you.  Though I hate the word as much as I hate “Sammie” for sandwich, I am, God help me, a ‘foodie.’  I cook, I read cooking magazines, talk to other people about their cooking, and, in lieu of taking out the garbage, weeding, redding up my desk, or making the bed, I watch the Food Channel.  Let me be clear, I am not suggesting that you do this.  I presume you have better ways to spend your time, like making the bed, taking out the garbage, weeding or redding up your desk.  But I will suggest that you watch Ina Garten’s programs on the Food Channel. 

Ina’s “The Barefoot Contessa” series has been around for over a decade, featuring accessible home cooking from a woman who never went to culinary school and never cooked before she got married.  Perhaps that’s why she explains things so clearly and creates cookbooks with recipes that work in home ovens, using non-restaurant equipment.  [Note: She can be a little heavy on the salt.]

The ‘Barefoot Contessa’ program was great, in part because of her husband, Jeffrey, who is that perfect food critic for whom every meal is the ‘best’ he’s ever had.  Jeffrey certainly knows which side his bread is buttered on and does everything he can to keep that butter coming.  Ina’s latest program, “Be My Guest,” is not as heartwarming (there’s no Jeffrey, no gay friends bringing elaborate floral arrangements and no children are at the table), but it features interesting, accomplished people who, in a role reversal, often teach Ina how to cook their favorite dishes. 

You should watch the Tina Fey episode for laughs and you should watch the Danny Meyer episode for laughs, for interesting thoughts about the restaurant business [I understand that you’re not going to open a restaurant, but you are going to eat in one, right?], and for a simple and irresistible pasta dish that is elevated, yet earthy and tastes as good as pasta can.

Danny Meyer’s favorite dish involves regular, dried pasta in a shape universally available (orecchiette – ‘little ears’, hence the title of this post), sausage, broccoli rabe (you can substitute broccolini), parmigiano-reggiano and/or pecorino romano, pasta cooking water and technique.  You should charge your family and friends for this dish – trust me, you’ll sell out quickly.

Orecchiette with Broccoli Rabe and Sausage

(adapted from Danny Meyer)

Timing:                                

40 minutes to 1 hour depending on how good you are at cooking several things at once.  If you’re no good, make the sauce first, then cook the pasta and combine.  That will take about 1 hour.

Ingredients:

1 lb. orecchiette pasta

4 hot and 4 sweet Italian sausages, casing removed.  [Most links come in packages of 5, but if you’re buying from Leonard Labriola, who sells extra long links, ask for about 4/5 lbs. of each.

2 bunches of broccoli rabe

1 lb. of pecorino, grated

1 lb. of parmesan, grated

1 whole head of garlic – I would use some garlic powder or two large cloves

1 ½ cups of extra-virgin olive oil

½ cup dry white wine

Red pepper flakes, Ground black pepper, Kosher salt

Prep:

Heat a large pot of heavily salted water (for the pasta)

Remove the sausage from the casings

Peel the garlic, if using

Measure out the other ingredients

Cook:

You can make the sauce while cooking the orecchiette to al dente, but it is easier to make the sauce first and then cook the pasta.

Make the sauce – Heat ½ cup of olive oil over Medium-High in a very large sauté pan (I use a Dutch oven, since you’ll eventually be combining and tossing the pasta and the cheese with the sauce).

Put the sausage in the pan and smash it down into something close to a single, flat layer and cook, stirring and breaking up the sausage for about 10 minutes – till cooked through.  Remove the sausage from the pan with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Deglaze the pan with the wine, scraping up any brown bits and cooking until the wine is reduced by about half – say 5 minutes.

Lower the heat to medium, add another ½ cup of olive oil and the red pepper flakes and cook for 2 seconds.  Add the garlic and cook over medium-high, stirring, until softened – 5 minutes or so.  [If you’re using garlic powder, cook for just a minute.]

Now add the broccoli rabe and another ½ cup of olive oil.  Season with 2 teaspoons of salt and add 1 cup of water.  Cook, stirring constantly, until the broccoli rabe is tender – maybe  6 minutes.  Now snip the broccoli rabe into bite size pieces with kitchen scissors.

Add the sausage back to the pan and mix with the broccoli rabe.

Reduce the heat to low or turn off while you cook the orecchiette.

5 minutes before the orecchiette is done, turn on the burner beneath the sauce to medium.  And two minutes before the pasta is done, add 1 cup of pasta water to the pan with the sausage and broccoli rabe, turn the heat to medium-high and stir to make a sauce.  [I would ladle some more pasta water into a bowl, in case you need some to thin the sauce, later.]

Drain the pasta and, while it’s still in the colander, add half of the pecorino and half of the parmesan and some grinds of black pepper and shake and toss a bit to combine.

Add the pasta to the pan with the sausage and broccoli rabe and stir over medium-high to blend.  Add the remaining cheese and serve hot.