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Rapini which is also known as Broccoli Rabe, Broccoli Raab, or Italian broccoli is delicious and loaded with vitamins and minerals.  It is full of fiber and it also tastes great and is very simple to prepare. It originated in the Meditteranean but can now be found all over the world.  It is not in the Broccoli family at all, but is named this because of its appearance.  You can tell that it is fresh if it has a dark green colour with no yellow buds.  I love adding this vegetable which is loaded in vitamins A, C, K and potassium to pasta, potatoes or rice.  You can steam it, boil it or even pan fry it.  It tastes great paired with garlic.  

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 Penne is one my kids’ favourite shapes of pasta.  They are diagonal tubes of pasta with or without ridges.  The tube shape is great to hold onto sauce.  Also vegetables that are small enough can hide inside the pasta tube and a picky child will never even know they are there.  Penne Rigate has ridges along the sides of the pasta.  These ridges also help hold on to whatever sauce you are using.  It is especially good for making pasta dishes al forno.  Which means “in the oven”, like lasagna or canneloni.  You can actually use Penne Rigate in place of lasagna noodles and make a sort of “fake lasagna”.  It is a great time saver and tastes just as good.  Penne Lisce is a smooth version of this pasta shape.

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To make my simple pasta and rapini dish all you need to do is trim the ends off the rapini and cook your pasta (whatever shape you like, even spaghetti is fine) and rapini together in boiling, salted water for eight to ten minutes until the pasta is cooked al dente or however soft or firm you like it, and then drain it.  Do not drain all the water though.  You will want to keep at least one cup of water left in the pot.  Add about a quarter of a cup of good extra virgin olive oil and enjoy.  It’s as simple as that.  Within ten to fifteen minutes you will have a delicious and nutritious pasta dinner.  I like to add freshly ground black pepper and Parmesan cheese on top sometimes as well.  You can even add a few garlic cloves to the cooking water if you want a slightly different flavour.  It won’t be a strong garlic flavour, just something mild in the background.