Friarielli con Salsicce

Neapolitan broccoli rabe sautéed with garlic and chilli, served with Italian sausage

Origin: Naples, Kingdom of Naples

From the journey of Broccoli.

Friarielli and sausage is perhaps the most iconic street food combination in Naples: served on pizza, stuffed into bread rolls, and eaten as a secondo throughout Campania. The slightly bitter, peppery friarielli (Neapolitan broccoli rabe) is a perfect foil for fatty, fennel-scented pork sausage. The word friarielli is believed to derive from the Spanish friár (to fry), reflecting the Bourbon Spanish rule of the Kingdom of Naples from the 16th to 18th century. This combination has been a fixture of Neapolitan cucina povera for at least four centuries.

Ingredients

  • 600 g broccoli rabe (friarielli)
  • 4 Italian pork sausages
  • 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
  • 1 tsp dried chilli flakes
  • 4 tbsp olive oil
  • 60 ml dry white wine
  • salt

Method

  1. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Blanch the broccoli rabe for 2 minutes to reduce bitterness. Drain and squeeze gently to remove excess water.
  2. Prick the sausages with a fork. Fry in a heavy pan with 1 tbsp olive oil over medium heat, turning, until golden brown and cooked through, about 12 minutes. Set aside and slice diagonally.
  3. In the same pan, add the remaining olive oil. Add garlic slices and cook until golden, about 2 minutes. Add chilli flakes and cook 30 seconds.
  4. Add the blanched broccoli rabe, toss well in the garlic oil and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes.
  5. Add the white wine and cook until evaporated, about 2 minutes. Season with salt.
  6. Return the sliced sausages to the pan, toss together briefly over heat and serve immediately.

Notes

In Naples, this is also the canonical pizza topping: spread the cooked friarielli over a white pizza base with the sausage and a little fior di latte mozzarella.

The Gastrographer

The Gastrographer

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