Cime di rapa

Brocoli-rave

What it is

It is a turnip selected for its flowering tops instead of its root, and it shares no ancestry with broccoli whatever the English name suggests. In Puglia the entire plant goes into one pot — leaf, stem and bud — with the orecchiette cooked in the same water.

In the kitchen

Blanch two minutes in plenty of salted water before it ever meets the pan; sautéed raw it keeps a bitterness that reads as scorched. Save the blanching water for the pasta, since that is where much of the flavour has gone.

Goes with

Garlic Anchovy Chili pepper Olive oil Pecorino Romano Lemon

Same species

Baek-kimchi Broccoli Brussels sprout Cabbage Cauliflower Cavolo nero

Also used with

Soppressata Semola rimacinata

In season alongside

Ashitaba Black radish Cardoon Dandelion greens Frisée Fuki (butterbur stalk)

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