This pasta offers the familiar comfort of baked macaroni and cheese but with pops of pleasantly bitter bright green broccoli rabe throughout. Serve alongside a crisp salad with a simple vinaigrette to balance out the richness of the pasta.
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Ingredients
6–8 servings
Preparation
Step 1
Preheat oven to 425°F. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, then add a generous amount of salt. Cook pasta, stirring occasionally to keep it from sticking together, until just barely al dente, about 2 minutes less than package directions. Drain pasta, reserving 1 cup pasta cooking liquid.
Step 2
While you are cooking the pasta, get the broccoli rabe going. Heat 5 Tbsp. oil in a large Dutch oven or other heavy pot over medium–high. Add leeks and season with salt and black pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until leeks are softened (but not so much that they don’t have any texture left) and starting to brown, 8–10 minutes.
Step 3
Add red pepper flakes to leeks and stir to incorporate. Add broccoli rabe by the handful, stirring to combine and allowing each addition to wilt before adding more. Season with salt and black pepper. Once all of the broccoli rabe has been added, cook, stirring occasionally, until bright green and wilted, about 2 minutes. Remove pot from heat and set aside.
Step 4
Add pasta to reserved broccoli rabe mixture along with cream, three-quarters of the cheese, ½ cup chives, and reserved pasta cooking liquid; mix well. Season with salt and black pepper and add more red pepper flakes if you prefer more heat (keep in mind that the saltiness and spiciness will increase as the pasta bakes).
Step 5
Transfer pasta to a 3-qt. baking dish (or, if your Dutch oven is ovenproof, just leave it in there). Toss breadcrumbs and remaining 3 Tbsp. oil in a medium bowl until coated; season with salt and black pepper. Scatter over pasta, then sprinkle evenly with remaining cheese. Bake until pasta is bubbling across the entire surface and breadcrumbs are deep golden brown, 30–35 minutes. Let cool slightly.
Step 6
Scatter remaining chives over pasta just before serving.
How would you rate Spicy Baked Pasta With Cheddar and Broccoli Rabe?
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Reviews (13)
Back to TopThis is a great recipe Spicy Baked Pasta With Cheddar and Broccoli Rabe , had fun making it over the weekend. Recreated the meal that I get from <a href="https://www.flexpromeals.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer ugc">https://www.flexpromeals.com/</a> delivered. Good quality and fresh.
Vadim
9/29/2023
Kim- I ance read in a comment about another recipe with cream the commenter said that she used unsweetened evaporated milk. I hope that this will be of help.
mmvixon
Victoria bc.
2/28/2021
Any suggestions for reducing the amount of heavy cream or using a substitute? We love broccoli rabe and broccolini but I try to avoid recipes with that much heavy cream, not to mention all of the cheese?
KJM
Virginia
2/25/2021
The leeks helped to mellow out the broccoli rabe a bit. It's still a little too bitter for my family but I love it. May try the Saffitz recipe instead which includes sausage and boils the rapini with the pasta water instead of sauteing which helps remove the bitterness.
pumpum
10/10/2020
I made this recipe without trying Broccoli Rabe before. This dish had a very bitter taste and neither my husband nor I liked it. Wound up throwing the rest of the casserole out.
valhumbug
West Kelowna, BC
9/30/2020
This was surprisingly good! I thought it might be bland but it wasn’t. I couldn’t find broccoli rabe or baby broccolini so I read that a replacement could be collard greens. I used half the amount of oil and it was fine. I did use an extremely high quality cheddar cheese though, its a keeper!
Canada
6/14/2020
This was a huge hit with the family, and they demanded it be put into the rotation. I made a couple of mods due to what was on-hand and the fact that I was pandemic delivering portions to mom & sis and wanted to cut a little back on the cream. Used broccolini (great substitute) & went with rigatoni. I guess I didn't trust the 'sauce forms during the bake' so I started off with a quick béchamel sauce, added 2/3 of the cheese, cup of reserved water 1/2 cup cream instead of a full cup, mixed - then incorporated. Didn't have leeks so I added onion power to the béchamel and chopped garlic to the broccolini cooking for the added flavor. Went with 1/2 melted butter/ 1/2 oil for the panic, because, butter. Great dish, still had leftovers with four of us eating and two to-go.
spereira
CapeCod MA
5/25/2020
Delicious. Leftovers freeze well. Would definitely do again.
pablopu
laguna Niguel, Cal
3/31/2020
Delicious and easy. The only change I’d make is to include a small head of peeled and chopped garlic when cooking the leek.
MKZH
Oakland, CA
10/29/2023
I have cooked this many times and its a solid favorite. The rabe rather than broccolini gives more substance to the vegetable side of this dish but in terms of taste they provide equal balance. It freezes and reheats well although of course it must be separated into portion sized containers otherwise it is an all or nothing dish. Love it!
Jon
Cape Cod
8/12/2023
We grow broccoli rabe and are always looking for ways to use. This was delicious!
J9
Minneapolis, MN
7/10/2023
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