Linguine with Red Sauce and Broccoli Rabe

Even on our first date Chris wanted a taste of what I had ordered. I had pan seared scallops. He wished he'd ordered them too. He claims the food on my plate tastes better, so at every meal, whether we are home or out, he tries to sneak a bite.

At first I was naive. Easy. All he had to say was, "Hey look over there," and a meatball or last piece of chicken was gone forever. 

I wised up pretty quickly though, forcing Chris to change his tactics. Rather than create a diversion, he  waits for me to distract myself by going back to the "kitchen" for a forgotten sauce or piece of cutlery, and like a shark ready to attack he'll consume a huge forkful of my meal, grinning as he eats. He can't help but revel in outsmarting me and even before I look at my plate, I know when I've been duped again.

Now, not all meals are created equal. Sometimes I put a little too much on my plate and I happily let Chris finish it so as not to be wasteful. But then there are the times when a tasty piece of lamb or crust of homemade pie never leaves my eye. This is when Chris gets especially cheeky, he knows that even if a fire were to break out in the next room or an elephant were to fall from the sky, landing in our apartment, and suddenly break into song, I would not remove my eyes from my plate. 

This is war. There are times when I've had to shove an entire cookie in my mouth or literally swat Chris away and stand in the corner to finish my meal.

For some this may sound like a nightmare and totally uncivilized. But to us, it's love.

And he always does the dishes.

One of our favorite meals is pasta with red sauce and broccoli rabe. A glass of red wine can't hurt. Here is how I made it last night.

Sauce

1 can crushed San Marzano tomatoes

1 tbs. tomato paste

1/2 large yellow onion

4 garlic cloves, minced

handful fresh basil, chopped

olive oil

1/2 package fresh linguine

Broccoli Rabe

1 bunch broccoli rabe

4 garlic cloves

olive oil

salt + pepper

Heat a large pot of salted water, in my case heat it up in the rice cooker, for the pasta. In a separate skillet or pot, saute the the onions in olive oil over medium heat until translucent, add the garlic and cook a minute more. Add the can of tomatoes and stir in the tomato paste. Let simmer. 

In my other rice cooker, or a pan, saute the rest of the garlic in olive oil, wash and chop the broccoli rabe, adding it to the garlic. Add 1 tbs. water and cover. Toss the broccoli rabe around every few minutes until it's tender. Season with salt and pepper and red chili flakes if you like.

When your pasta water is boiling add the fresh linguine and cook for about three minutes. Fresh pasta cooks in a flash so keep an eye on it. Drain.

With an immersion blender, blend the simmered pasta sauce until most of the lumps are gone. Add the fresh basil. I find the sauce doesn't need salt or pepper but add if you like.

Spoon the sauce on top of the pasta or toss it all together and serve with broccoli rabe on the side.