cime di rape

cime di rape
Originally uploaded by kattebelletje.

Yes! I walked into the Turkish shop the other day and found this cime di rape on sale there. Whenever I spot a not so common vegetable, I am tempted to try it out; this happens quite often in this store (one of my favourites). Cime di rape sounds familiar from books like the River Cafe Cook Book, so I just bought this dark green leaf vegetable and went home to try to find a recipe. I found two, one in Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian and one in the River Cafe Cook Book, as I thought. I stripped the rather tough leaves from the stalk and cut up the leaves in chunks of about 14 cm. Then I blanched them in boiling water with some salt for a couple of minutes and drained them. Then I sauteed the cime di rape chunks in olive oil with a little garlic, and simmered the vegetable for 10 minutes. The stalks of the leaves were still a bit too tough when we had them; the green tops were alright, the overall taste was like a crossover between spinach and broccoli. I should have cooked it longer, or perhaps have it with a cream sauce? Still, very nice to try out.