Easy Ricotta Cavatelli with Sausage and Broccoli Rabe

If you are looking for a fresh, light, and flavorful weeknight pasta recipe, this Ricotta Cavatelli with Sausage and Broccoli Rabe delivers every time. Created in partnership with J Squared Eatz, this dish brings together tender homemade cavatelli, Bianco & Sons Broccoli Rabe, Cheese and Garlic Italian Sausage, and garlicky sautéed greens in a simple pan sauce that coats every bite.

It is the perfect balance of rich and bright, with a little heat from Calabrian chili and a fresh finish from lemon and pecorino. Easy enough for a weeknight dinner but elevated enough to feel like a restaurant quality pasta made right at home.

Prep Time: 25-30 minutes | Cook Time: 10-15 minutes | Total Time: 35-45 minutes
Serves: 2-4

INGREDIENTS

• 2 Bianco & Sons Broccoli Rabe, Cheese and Garlic Sausage Links, Uncased
• ½ Bunch of broccoli rabe, blanched and cut into 1-inch pieces
• 3 Garlic cloves, sliced thin on a mandoline
• 2 TSP Calabrian chili 
• ½ Cup white wine
• 3 TBSP cold unsalted butter
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• Zest of 1 Lemon 
• ½ Cup Pecorino Romano, grated

Ricotta Cavetelli Pasta Dough

• 2 Cups AP flour
• 1 Cup whole milk ricotta, partially drained 
• 1 Large egg
• 1 Pinch kosher salt

METHOD

1. Add 2 cups of AP flour to your bench or countertop and make a well in the middle. Add your whole egg, ricotta and salt to the middle of the well.
2. Mix egg and ricotta filling with a fork until combined. Slowly start to incorporate flour by running your fork around the edges of the well, adding a little at a time until it forms shaggy dough.
3. Knead for 5 to 6 minutes until most of the flour is absorbed and a dough ball has formed. Pro tip, if your dough is a little dry, add a small amount of water a little at a time until you get a perfect consistency. Cover with plastic wrap or a clean kitchen towel and let rest for 25 to 30 minutes.
4. Blanch your broccoli rabe in a pot with boiling salted water for 1 minute. Do not cook for any longer or it will become mushy. Drain on a sheet pan lined with a clean kitchen towel. Let cool in fridge and then cut into 1 inch pieces, set aside.
5. Cut the pasta dough into small portions and roll out into a 1/2 inch diameter rope, working with 1 portion at a time. Cover unused pasta when not working with it.
6. Feed pasta rope into a cavatelli machine until cavatelli is formed, dust with a light sprinkle of flour to keep from sticking. Repeat process with remaining dough. When all the cavatelli is formed place on a sheet pan and let chill in fridge until you are ready to cook. If you do not have a cavatelli machine, cut rope into 1 inch pieces and use a fork to create ridges.
7. Remove sausage from casing and break up into 1/2 inch pieces and add into a sauté pan with EVOO on low heat, allow sausage to render and brown. Remove sausage when cooked through with a slotted spoon or spatula.
8. Bring the residual sausage fat to medium heat and add garlic and Calabrian chili to pan. Sauté for about 1 to 2 minutes until garlic is fragrant but not browned.
9. Bring a separate pot of salted water to a boil.
10. Deglaze with white wine and scrape up any bits of fond in the pan. Add a pinch of salt and a pinch of pepper. Allow wine to reduce by half, about 2 to 3 minutes.
11. Add cavatelli to boiling water and cook for about 2 to 3 minutes or until pasta is al dente. Using a spider or slotted spoon, transfer cavatelli to the sauté pan.
12. Add sausage, broccoli rabe and a small ladle of pasta water to the sauté pan. Toss pasta until coated.
13. Add butter, lemon zest and pecorino cheese off heat. Toss again until glossy.

TO SERVE

• Top with more pecorino cheese as desired 
• Mangia!