Pasta With Spicy Sausage, Broccoli Rabe and Chickpeas Recipe (2024)

Made this a handful of times with different kinds greens. Always delicious, but rabe or broccolini work best, imh. Go heavy on the lemon. Tip: chop the veg after blanching--much easier to get out of the pot that way!

Loved this! It was flavorful, hearty, comforting, and I appreciated the kick of green from the broccoli rabe. I also liked the addition of the chickpeas, as did my boyfriend. I agree with another poster that the 1lb of pasta was too much, next time I will cook less.

Used beyond meat sausages which was fabulous for the vegetarian palate. I would decrease the pasta next time. And there is no such thing as enough rappini...I used 2 big bunches and would have been happy with more!

Great variation on a classic! I used chickpeas imported from Italy (a brand called Bioitalia) that were somehow sitting in my pantry. They were smaller and denser than American chickpeas and nest nicely into the orechette shells, like pearls.

I’ve made an almost identical dish to this for years. But I use roasted pieces of parsnip instead of chickpeas. The sweetness of the parsnip is a nice contrast to the broccoli rabe.

Used spinach wrapped in the last stage, had a heavy hand on red pepper flakes plus added some artichoke hearts, otherwise followed the recipe and it was a winner!

Delicious. I made it to the letter, almost... would add a whole nother can of chickpeas, they got lost in the shuffle.A quick glug of heavy cream at the end would not be unwelcome; also be generous with salt and throw in some crushed red pepper.A keeper.

Made this tonight with rigatoni (only pasta on hand), baby broccoli, and spicy bulk Chorizo sausage from Whole Foods. Chorizo flavor offsets the strong taste of chickpeas and eliminated need for garlic. Used only pasta water (no wine). Added in large diced red pepper for color. Lemon (zest and juice), Parmesan and butter rounded out the dish nicely. We were pleasantly surprised with the result. Will definitely make again.

This was a hit with my family tonight! We are vegetarian so I substituted Trader Joe’s Soy Chorizo for the spicy sausage. I used regular broccoli that I got in our CSA box. I didn’t have white wine and I thought it wouldn’t go well with the chorizo so I used red wine instead. I left out the lemon, but kept the butter and Parmesan. Basically, I tried to use what I had on hand and what would make sense.

Really flavorful! I used 12 oz of orecchiette rather than a full pound (as suggested by other commenters!) and thought it was the perfect ratio of meat/veggies to pasta.

Really good and so quick! I skipped the garlic because I was using heavily seasoned sausage. Used orecchiette - next time I need to use a bigger pot with more water because they clumped together a bit. I really liked the addition of the chickpeas for an extra hot of protein fiber, plus the flavor and texture. I was skeptical about the lemon but it really makes the sauce! Served on a bed of hearty micro greens to add some additional veg, and the heat of the pasta softened them up. Really good!

This dish is Amazing. Didn’t make any changes in ingredients (which is unusual for me) and it’s just delicious. Served with garlic bread and a simple green salad and a nice bottle of red.

I made this according to the recipe but didn’t add salt. Between the salted pasta water, sausage and the Parmesan, didn’t need more salt. Delicious traditional Italian dish and the lemon adds a delightful zing

THIS vegan has been making exact same for MANY years! Now when plant based subs are so plentiful & avaliable most anywhere it's even better! Suggest TJ's vegan Parm (comes nicely shredded) &/or Violife's wedge (black wraper) that is absolutly indistingushable from the 'real' thing! As stated in another comment Beyond Sasuage is great but I'll stick w'the long time brand "Field Roast" unless one needs to be GF! Their Chipolti is faboulas for 'heat' & their Italian has great fennel flavor!

Highlights from other cooks that worked for me: Reduce pasta (1/2 lb worked for me)Go Light on added salt (sausage chicken broth parm is enough) A few knobs of butter at the end transform the sauce Don’t be precious with your greens: use what you have; chop; enjoy.

Loved this dish! To make it vegan, I used the Beyond Spicy Italian Sausage and added some oil at the end instead of the butter. I also used spinach instead of the broccoli and opted to not add the lemon juice since the zest already added enough acidity. I would also reserve a whole cup of pasta pater instead of the half cup from the start. I am definitely keeping this recipe!

What do we like for wine to serve with this?

My boyfriend who is a very picky eater ABSOLUTELY loved this. I used chorizo broccoli and chickpeas as per quantity along with all other ingredients except sausage and broccoli rabe but listened to a lot of the comments and did not use a lb of pasta and it came out perfect. No joke he had 4 bowls ! I also used ‘Parmesan Asiago Romano’ grated cheese and it definitely get it a boost!! Will 100% be making this again, thank you!

Delicious! I used beyond Italian sausage and left out the Parmesan cheese. So flavorful!

I made some significant substitutions based on ingredients I had and it turned out great! So, if you want to take this in a N African direction…I had some Moroccan lamb sausage I used (not spicy), and instead of the white wine/stock step, I used one can of the Heyday Canning Co Harissa & Lemon chickpeas, undrained and used it as the sauce component, and I skipped the lemon juice, zest & cheese. Highly recommend the Heyday products if you haven’t tried them.

I followed this exactly and it tasted too starchy to me. I’m guessing it’s because I used cannellini beans. As soon as I added the pasta the sauce changed unfortunately.

Highlights from other cooks that worked for me: Reduce pasta (1/2 lb worked for me)Go Light on added salt (sausage chicken broth parm is enough) A few knobs of butter at the end transform the sauce Don’t be precious with your greens: use what you have; chop; enjoy.

VEGAN VERSION:Made with Field Roast Italian Sausage (Plant Based Sausage) cut in coins at an angle; Kale; Tolerant Brand green lentil rotini pasta; Earth Balance for butter. Delicious!Resisted the urge to add onion - perfect just the way it was.(Though did add 2x the garlic, and a bit more wine.)Also agree with commenters who suggest recipe could easily absorb a second can of chickpeas. Will try that next time. Really good recipe.

Delicious textures and tastes. Added some shredded goat cheese - and used dried chorizo for the sausage.

This was ok. Nothing to write home about. Might have been the sausage I used. I only had some Field Roast sausages on hand. If you’re not vegetarian then a more flavorful meat sausage is probably better because there’s not much taste otherwise even after ramping it up with crushed red pepper, extra garlic and extra lemon. Just meh.

Made this again with 1.5 pounds of supermarket kale and sweet Italian sausage with orrechiette for the pasta. Fabu! I’m a food writer of several decades experience. My wife saw this recipe in the NY Times and suggested I make it for her. So compellingly good every time! (I was skeptical when I first read the recipe. My bad.)

This was so delicious! I didn't have the cheese on-hand and didn't miss it. Used sweet chard as my greens, hot Italian turkey sausage, and whole wheat penne. Makes a big batch that I can have all weekend. Very satisfying!

This was not as flavorful as I was hoping it would be. The store only had sweet Italian sausage. I think the hot would’ve added more flavor for the dish. A little red pepper flakes would also help liven it up a bit. Also, it makes a TON of pasta. If cooking for only two, I recommend only making half a recipe.

We are vegetarians so I used tofu sausage - still worked well. It was a bit dry though because vegetarian sausage has much less fat in it.

We did not have chickpeas so made this without and it was excellent. I recommend halving the olive oil (the sausage has plenty of fat) and doubling the garlic (because I always do). Do not omit the lemon zest and juice- makes all the difference. I might consider some toasted pine nuts or bread crumbs next time.