Spicy Tempeh and Broccoli Rabe with Rotelle

This week's recipe was chosen based on ease. But honestly, it did have quite a bit of intrigue with it's chili peppers, garlic and rapini. As we drove in the car and chose the recipe this a.m. we also thought about what we knew we had at home in terms of ingredients. We didn't want to go home to check, so this recipe seemed straight forward and relatively easy to navigate when it came to grocery shopping.

So, Spicy Tempeh and Broccoli Rabe with Rotelle it was!

I followed the recipe exactly with the substitution of gobbetti pastas for the rotelle. See that bulb of garlic? All but three cloves of it were used. Another allure of the recipe.


As the pasta boiled on the stove, the directions had me make the sauce for the tempeh. It consisted of red pepper flakes, fennel seeds, soy sauce, vegetable broth, dried oregano, and tomato paste. It was quite delicious and not nearly as hot as I thought it would be. The tomato paste added a little sweetness and the soy brought out the savory.


The tempeh and sauce steamed for about ten minutes and then were put in a separate bowl. By this time the pasta was finished and sat in the drained pot, with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and a lid on it to keep it warm.

As the tempeh and sauce simmered, I chopped ten cloves of garlic. It smelled so great! Hope it helps to keep all of those lingering cold germs away too!!!


Then, the garlic was put in the, now empty, pan that the tempeh and sauce had simmered in. The garlic cooked in a little olive oil and then rapini was added.


It steamed for eight minutes with the lid on and then two without, as the final liquids evaporated.


Shazam! It was finally time for all ingredients to meet! The tempeh which had since been added to the pasta, was now poured in with the cooked garlic and rapini.


And very quickly, dinner was served!


Mark and I both liked the recipe, but I think Mark liked it better. For me, the rapini was just a bit too bitter. Also, I'm not sure if was the cooking of the fennel seeds or the combination with the rapini, but the fennel seeds really turned bitter and were somewhat overpowering. It was fun to cook and definitely a healthy dinner, but I will definitely try some other recipes from the book before making this one again.