Garlic Rapini And Pasta

Total Time: 1 hr 20 mins Preparation Time: 20 mins Cook Time: 1 hr

Ingredients

• Servings: 6
• 3 bunches of fresh rapini
• 1 head garlic
• 3/4 cup olive oil
• 1 lb rotini pasta
• 1/2 cup margarine or 1/2 cup butter
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
• 2 tablespoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup of grated romano cheese

Recipe

• 1 start by taking the rapini and removing any yellow leaves, (if they exist); chop off the ends of the stalks about 1/2 inch to get rid of any dry tips.
• 2 now fill your sink with cold water and let the leaves soak in the water, moving them around, to remove any debris between them and also clean them; you will get to cook them a little later.
• 3 take a large pot, i use one about 16" high; fill the pot with 3/4 water and add 2 tbsp of salt; bring the water to a boil on your stove.
• 4 drain rapini from cold water and then add them to boiling water.
• 5 you must cook them until they get soft; continue boiling for at least 1/2 hr (until tender).
• 6 strain rapini from boiling water; take rapini and try the best you can to squeeze out the water from the cooked bunch; this could take some muscle work but will be well worth it when you mix it with the other ingredients later; (use a heavy spoon to press the cooked rapini into the strainer); continue until most water is squeezed out; you should be able to roll the rapini into a ball now; put rapini aside until later.
• 7 take your garlic head and peel all of the cloves off, (remove skins).
• 8 using a garlic presser, crush each clove until the entire garlic head has been processed.
• 9 take half of your olive oil and heat it in a large skillet.
• 10 sauté the pressed/crushed garlic in the hot oil until the garlic begins to brown.
• 11 add the rapini by breaking it into chunks, and spread it out over the surface to the garlic oil, in the skillet.
• 12 add the remainder of your olive oil and continue to sauté the garlic, rapini and oil until the rapini has soaked up the olive oil; (about 10 min).
• 13 boil the rotini pasta until it is the softness you desire, note: add some salt to the boiling water while cooking the rotini, (pinch).
• 14 strain cooked rotini and place back into pan.
• 15 mix margarine, cayenne pepper, black pepper and romano cheese until the rotini is well coated.
• 16 add garlic rapini and oil from skillet into pan, over the rotini; mix until the rotini is well coated.
• 17 serve with a sprinkle of grated cheese; enjoy!