A Recipe For Broccoli Rabe Pesto Pasta

Embracing The Bean Life™

Just like sourdough, it seems it took a global lockdown for people to fully embrace beans. Soaked and simmered from dry, bubbling away on the stove as we Zoomed through the day, we became modern-day Strega Nonas.

Cut to 2024, and we’re still proud card-carrying members of the bean club, adding beans into all sorts of dishes they had never been before.

Beans check all the boxes:

• Always waiting for you in the pantry

• Packed with IT GIRL macronutrients: protein and fiber

• Inexpensive, ounce for ounce, compared to meat

• Versatile across a variety of dishes and flavor profiles

• Bonkers delicious!

Thank goodness my boyfriend is a bean lover. Usually around 5 PM, one of us will text the other, "What are you thinking for dinner?" At least 1 out of 4-5 nights a week we cook, it’s Bean Life, baby. Not to be confused with an excellent name for an internal employee-retention blog at L.L. Bean, The Bean Life™ is truly a lifestyle.

The Recipe:

I’m not going to share a brothy bean recipe today. That’s more of a technique, and techniques alone do not constitute dinner.* Instead, I’m excited to share my Broccoli Rabe Pesto Pasta with Crispy White Beans—a perfect beans-for-dinner recipe that’s not just about the beans!

Helpful Hints:

• The Beans: You can use store-bought or home-cooked beans. Just be sure they are drained well for maximum crispiness. *If you need a good method for making beans from scratch, our gal Justine never misses. But don’t forget, as Ina says store-bought really is fine.

• The Broccoli Rabe: FYI: Trader Joe’s doesn’t sell broccoli rabe, so your best bet is a larger well-stocked market. Swab in broccoli if you you can’t find it, or prefer a milder flavor. Blanch the florets and chopped stems (peel them first).

• How to Heat & Eat: It works warm, at room temperature, or cold from the fridge and reheats beautifully. Save a mason jar of pasta water and add splashes as you reheat to bring it all together.

• More Protein, Bro: If you need more protein, brown some hot or sweet Italian sausage in the skillet. Remove it to a plate, keeping the drippings in the skillet. Use those drippings (plus a bit more olive oil if needed) to crisp up the beans—wowza!

• The Pesto (not the penguin): This recipe makes a generous amount of pesto. You can prepare it a few days in advance and refrigerate it. Any extra pesto can replace tomato sauce on pizza, be dolloped onto a frittata before baking, or spread on a sandwich—especially a grilled cheese with provolone and mozzarella.

• The Pasta: Orecchiette is worth seeking out for its ability to cradle each precious bean. You can also use another short pasta like cavatappi or mezze rigatoni. I’m not a huge fan of farfalle or rotini, but you do you!

• Garnishes: If you’ve got basil, parsley or chives lying around, I do love a fresh herb on top before serving.

Broccoli Rabe Pesto Pasta with Crispy White Beans

Ingredients:

• Kosher salt

• 1 bunch broccoli rabe, ends trimmed

• 1/2 cup toasted almonds or walnuts

• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for topping

• 2 cloves garlic, minced

• 1 lemon, zested and juiced

• Pinch dried chili flakes

• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

• 1 (15-ounce) can or about 2 cups cooked white beans, drained and rinsed

• 1 pound short-cut pasta, like orecchiette

Directions:

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Fill a large bowl with water and ice. Add broccoli rabe to the pot of boiling water and cook (blanch) until the stalks soften, about 3 minutes. With a pair of tongs, remove broccoli rabe from pot and immediately submerge in the ice bath. Once cool, drain, then squeeze out excess water. Pat dry with a towel. Reserve pot of water for cooking pasta.

Coarsely chop broccoli rabe and add to a food processor with nuts, Parmesan, garlic, lemon zest, lemon juice and chili. Pulse until coarsely chopped. With the machine running, stream in about 1/2 cup olive oil. Continue processing, scraping down the sides of the bowl if needed, until a thick paste forms (it will not be completely smooth). Season with salt and more chili until it tastes good. Set aside.

Bring pot of water back to a boil (it will be green - that’s OK!) Cook pasta for 8-10 minutes until al dente. Drain, reserving about 1 cup of pasta water.

While pasta cooks, heat remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet. Add white beans. Cook, tossing occasionally, until beans start to turn golden brown, about 5 minutes. Spoon onto a plate, sprinkle with salt and set aside.

In the same skillet over low heat, toss hot pasta with pesto, adding as much pesto as you need to coat noodles. Add pasta water 1 tablespoon at a time to thin the sauce. Spoon into a serving bowl, top with crispy white beans, more warm, chili and olive oil.

The Life-Changing Magic of Baking

For the little bakers in your life, my pal Joy Wilson (@joythebaker) recently published an illustrated kids' book titled The Life-Changing Magic of Baking, co-authored with her dad, Cliff. I made Cliff’s legendary Sweet Potato Pie for Thanksgiving one year, and my family still says they preferred it to pumpkin! This book would make a great gift paired with a tiny apron or baking set.

Swedish Hot Dogs

If you go to IKEA just for the meatballs and lingonberry jam, you’ll love

Amelia Eudailey

and her Swedish food concept Chef Hej Hej. If you can’t make it to one of her pop-ups in the Bay Area, try making her Swedish Shrimp Salad as a topping for a Swedish-style hot dog.

Figgy Foggy Chantilly Cake

Corporate ownership aside, I often look to grocers like Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s for the latest food trends. Whole Foods’ wildly popular Berry Chantilly Cake and Mango Yuzu Chantilly Cake have now inspired the new Figgy Foggy Chantilly Cake. According to WFM, the FFCC features “moist chocolate cake layers filled with sweet fig jam and frosted with Earl Grey Chantilly icing.” It’s giving: sipping a cup of milky tea while alternating bites of Fig Newtons and chocolate bars. While chocolate was a bold choice, I would have expected an Earl Grey or vanilla sponge. I’ll be keeping an eye out for a single slice clamshell during my next Whole Paycheck run.

A Bomb BBQ Hot Sauce

I attended Cherry Bomb’s annual Jubilee gathering for women in food last spring in NYC. I complimented another attendee on her sparkly Mary Janes, only to discover she owns a hot sauce company in Kansas City called H Sauce. She kindly sent me a bottle of their signature fermented H Sauce, which has a distinct sweet-and-tangy BBQ vibe. I love it on eggs, crispy baked tofu (recipe coming soon!), tacos, and swirled into mayo for dipping sweet potato fries. I was also sent their Hot Honey, a combination of H Sauce and honey, which is incredible with braised greens, roasted salmon or chicken, and avocado toast.

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