More Broccoli Rabe - can there ever be enough?

Some of the best dishes are made from staples sitting in your refrigerator or pantry. Trying to make something interesting and tasty for lunch I decided to make sausage, broccoli rabe, white beans, and tomatoes. And if you read this site with any regularity you may have picked up on the fact that I love broccoli rabe. Anyway, I digress...

Preparation was fairly simple.

Remove casing from hot Italian sausage (or whatever type of sausage you prefer) and saute, breaking up into small pieces. Remove sausage from pan and saute a few cloves of garlic in the oil left over from the sausage - I used 3 (hey, what do you expect from an Italian?). Add broccoli rabe and cover until broccoli wilts. Add partially rinsed white beans, diced & fresh tomatoes and a tablespoon of tomato paste. Let that simmer for a few minutes, then reintroduce the sausage to the pan. You can add some chicken broth here if desired and of course, season with the holy trinity of salt, pepper and garlic powder. You can also add some crushed red pepper if you want a bit more kick to it but since I used hot Italian sausage it didn't need the extra spice.

My method was slightly inspired from my previous pork chops with zucchini recipe post and the result was just as delicious. I was careful not to overcook the sausage since it was going to go back in the pan and the residual oil from the sausage added another level of flavor to the dish.

Enjoy!