The best shapes for broccoli rabe
Broccoli rabe wilted into garlic, anchovy and olive oil until the leaves collapse and the stems soften. Bitter, oily, and full of loose leaf fragments that behave more like a chopped salad than a sauce.
Bitter greens wilted into garlic, anchovy, and oil. The leaf fragments need cups to land in, this sauce and orecchiette are a single dish in Puglia.
Canonical: orecchiette, cavatelli.
Each piece is a small scoop.
Each piece is a small cup with a thin center and a thicker rim, so one bite carries two textures.
The rough, dragged face and slightly cupped form catch and hold loose, rustic dressings.
What we would not put it on
Smooth long strands. The leaf pieces slide off rather than travelling with the pasta, so the bitterness lands unevenly and the last of it stays on the plate.
Want it the other way around? Start from a shape in the Pairing Finder.
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From the Almanac
Updates from Pasta Almanac, when there is something worth sharing.