Friarielli

Friarielli, also known as Broccoli Rabe, Broccoletti, Broccoli di Rape, Cime di Para, Rape, Rappini, Rappi…the list could go on forever folks, is very hard to describe.

Friarielli is part of the Mustard family.  It is a green leafy vegetable with firm edible stalks and little clusters of buds that resemble broccoli however do not taste like it at and sometimes has little yellow flowers at the peak of the buds.  It is mostly common in the cuisine of Italy and China, although presented in very different ways.  It is classified as a Brassica rapaIt and is definitely an acquired taste for those who don't care for greens, however I have to say after sampling it myself it has the greens texture of cooked spinach, the stalk texture of asparagus and the taste is between that of greens and asparagus with a bit of a bitter finish.   I quite enjoyed it and will be eating it again.  I can see this sautéed with garlic and shallots finished with red pepper flakes and served over pasta in lieu of sauce.  I was so excited when I finished my recipe I forgot to take a photo of the finished dish, guess I will have to make it again soon to update this blog post.

Sauted Friarielli with Garlic and Shallots
I cut the end of the stalks off and discarded them, then I trimmed the stalks into three sections.  Starting with the lowest part of the stalk I dropped them into boiling water for about a minute before adding the rest to blanch another minute to two minutes.  I drained them from the hot water and left them to cool while I sautéed two minced cloves of garlic and one large shallot sliced.  I removed these from the pan and heated up about three tablespoons of olive oil, then placed the Friarielli in the pan to sauté for about ten minutes stirring frequently with salt and pepper to taste.  I added the shallots and garlic and sautéed a minute or two longer and served warm along side roasted pork and my next recipe, roasted Black Grapes.  See next post.