Orecchiette With ’Nduja, Shrimp and Tomatoes Recipe (2024)

Seems author intends raw broccoli rabe (rapini) to be cooked about 3 min. as part of step 7. Broccoli rabe (turnip family) is one of few green veg that benefits from long cooking. Too crunchy and far too bitter as spec'd here. Cook it first. (Italian hubby so we use rapini regularly.) For good tutorial see Samin's Nosrat's Salt-Fat-Acid-Heat or any recipe here by her using rapini. Or, Viola Butoni's method to cook rapini to use in any dish. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/rapini_b_4072299

What? You didn't swap the pasta out for rice?

Very good. Made with chorizo, used canned diced tomatoes instead of whole just to save on time, and swapped the rabe for spinach. Delicious.

This is a good recipe but could use some small adjustment. As noted by another reader, you need to cook the rabe longer than a few minutes. I added it after the shallots and garlic with 1/2 cup water and salt to reduce the bitterness. I have to say the rabe ended up a bit overcooked, but the alternative would be to blanch it separately in advance, but that's just too fussy for a weeknight meal.Also, I substituted black squid-ink strozzapreti and fresh calamari. It came out really well.

Try this with rock shrimp. Beware the spiciness of the 'nduja! I crumbled some extra into the pan for good measure last night, and it was almost too hot to eat!

Why is everyone always trying to reduce the bitterness of broccoli rabe? The bitterness is it’s glory. And works beautifully with the other rich components

I didn’t have any greens around that seemed right for this dish so skipped adding them. Was amazing. Used a gluten free pasta that added a little sweetness which was needed/worked well with the n’duja. I used fresh tomatoes as well and just put them in the food processor. Absolutely delicious.

Lucky me, I happened to have all the ingredients from Italy. Used a fresh heirloom tomato instead and cooked it longer. Blanched the broccoli rabe before cooking the pasta. Used tiny frozen shrimps, wished I had more. Nduja with spicy pepper in a jar worked very nicely. Delicious!

I could not find chorizo or 'njuda sausage and went with sweet Italian sausage. as a result I don't think we had the benefit of the more flavorful varieties. I would definitely make this again with one of the other sausages and also add more tomatoes.A couple of comments suggested the rabe was not cooked enough based on the directions. I did not find that to be the case for me.

Double the sausage, half the shrimp, needs salt & chili flakes, I'd also wait to cook the pasta because the orecchiette sticks together

Learn from my failed shortcuts! Step 1 went great, but I used dried pasta (wish I’d used fresh). Skipped steps 2 & 3 (had neither on hand), and left step 5 as an add-on (not all in the household can do spicy). Steps 4 & 6 went well. The order of steps in 7 meant that by the time the shrimp firmed up, the pasta fell apart and the sauce got gluey. Opting for frozen vegetables contributed to 7 failing. Would do pasta separately & add at the end. Still tasted good, esp with lemon juice & zest.

I agree the the broccoli rabe needs to cook longer. I boiled it with the pasta, then added both to the tomatoes with the shrimp. It was delicious.

This is a good recipe but could use some small adjustment. As noted by another reader, you need to cook the rabe longer than a few minutes. I added it after the shallots and garlic with 1/2 cup water and salt to reduce the bitterness. I have to say the rabe ended up a bit overcooked, but the alternative would be to blanch it separately in advance, but that's just too fussy for a weeknight meal.Also, I substituted black squid-ink strozzapreti and fresh calamari. It came out really well.

It would be better to leave shrimp whole, or maybe just cut in half. Also think more lemon juice was needed. But will definitely make again

This was so good. My husband makes‘nduja and we’re always looking for recipes and this is wonderful. One change, we don’t grow broccoli rabe, but grow and freeze A LOT of Tuscan Kale so I used that. Yummy! I was concerned the shrimp would be lost in the dish but it really added a nice sweetness

Made exactly as directed. It’s so so.

Very good, but more time consuming than the 30 minutes suggests. I used raw shrimp so had to put a lid on the pan to get that cooked through - wish I had taken the pasta out initially even a little bit earlier to reserve the “bite” when cooked again in the pan.

I made this with beyond sausage and asparagus (because I didn’t have broccolini) and it was delicious!! Definitely recommend adding pepper flakes - a little spice makes this even better. I also think next time I would add feta before serving.

I liked this overall, but if I’ made it again I’d make it without the lemon zest, I felt it made the dish overpoweringly citrusy. Maybe I just used too much.