Pasta with Rapini, Chickpeas & a Poached Eggs

Rapini, or Broccoli Rabe (same thing) is a healthy and delicious cruciferous vegetable. You can eat the stem, buds and leaves. It does have a kind of pungent, bitter taste which  doesn’t bother me – in fact I kind of like that about it!  But you can remove some of the bitterness by blanching it for a few minutes in boiling salted water before preparing this dish. The pasta, parmesan and egg does help to mellow out the bitterness as well.

This is a simple dish to assemble for a healthy vegetarian one-dish meal.  If you don’t like Broccoli Rabe, you can always substitute regular broccoli.

Ingredients:

• 4 – 6 cups of cooked pasta (any shape works – gluten free works too)
• 1 bunch of rapini (the ends trimmed and cut into pieces)
• 3 – 4 TB. of olive oil
• 2 cloves of garlic
• salt & pepper to taste
• 1 lemon (1/2 thinly sliced – save the other half to use the juice)
• 1 cup of drained chickpeas
• 1/3 cup of freshly grated parmesan cheese
• 2 eggs (poached)

To Prepare For The Dish:

• * Cook the pasta according to directions – drizzle with olive oil and cover and set aside.
• * poach 2 – 3 eggs and set aside in  a bowl of warm water.  (google “best way to poach an egg”)
• * grate the parmesan and set aside
• * drain the chickpeas ands set aside
• * peel and mince the garlic cloves
• * prepare the rapini by trimming and cutting it into pieces

To Make the Dish:

* put 1 TB. of the  olive oil in a large skillet. Add the lemon slices and brown lightly until golden on each side. Remove and set aside.

* Add a few more TB. of the olive oil, the garlic, rapini and the chickpeas and lightly saute. Turn the heat to low and sprinkle the parmesan on top – put a lid on the skillet to let it warm through and melt the cheese slightly. Before serving top it with the poached eggs. Drizzle a little more olive oil on top, add a touch of salt and pepper and a squeeze of the lemon.

Serve and enjoy!