Rachel Ray: Gnocchi with Chicken Sausage and Broccoli

While checking out Cynthia over at Diary of a Glad Housewife, I noticed she had also received Rachel Ray's Big Orange Book for Christmas. So we are both making a recipe from our new book this week! Check out her recipe.
Rachel Ray, as I have mentioned on here before, makes some of my favorite recipes. I don't watch her show though, her personality can be a little weird-o! But I love her magazine. (I am going to be in her April issue, more about that later!) I think the Big Orange Book is a good addition to my cookbook collection. There are some really yummy sounding vegetarian recipes, holiday and party recipes also. I would definitely reis really nicecommend it.
I went on another expedition to Trader Joe's this week, and I got some basil pesto chicken and turkey sausage. So I chose this recipe from the kosher section of Rachel's new book.
I was excited to try this recipe, the original name is Gnocchi with Chicken Sausage and Broccoli Rabe. I have never cooked with broccoli rabe, so I was excited to try it. Sadly when I went to the grocery store, there was none to be found! So I changed it to regular broccoli, and it was tasty.
There was one great tip in this recipe I'd like to point out- to break up the sausage while browning, use a potato masher. This works much faster than anything else I've tried. Next time I make a meat sauce with sausage I am going to use this tip.
This dish was tastier than I thought. Don't leave out the red pepper, it gives the dish a little KICK.
Ingredients:
salt
1 (12-16 oz.) package fresh or frozen gnocchi
2 bunches of broccoli rabe, stem ends trimmed and chopped OR 2 broccoli crowns, cut into florets
4 tablespoons EVOO
1 1/2 pounds Kosher Italian chicken sausage links, casings removed (I used Trader Joe's basil pesto chicken and turkey sausage)
1 small onion, finely chopped
3 large garlic cloves, finely chopped or grated
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
zest and juice of 1 lemon
Crusty bread (I bought LaBrea roasted garlic bread)

Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat to cook the gnocchi. Once the water is boiling, add some salt, add the gnocchi and cook according to package directions. Rigt before draining, rmove and reserve about 1 1/2 cups of the cooking liquid (I ALWAYS forget to do this! I used chicken broth)
While the water for the gnocchi is coing to a boil, bring 2 inches of water to a boil in a large high-sided skillet. add some salt and the broccoli (rabe) and simmer for 5 minutes, drain and reserve. Return the skillet to the stove and heat 2 tablespoons of EVOO over medium high heat. add the chicken sausage and break it up with the back of a spoon or a potato masher while it cooks and browns, 6-7 minutes.



Add the onions, garlic, and red pepper flakes to the sausage and continue to cook for another 3-4 minutes or until the onions start to get tender. Remove the sausage and onion from the skillet and reserve.

Here is the reserved sausage, broccoli and the lemon zest ready to go.

Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of EVOO and heat it up. Add the drained gnocchi to the skillet and brown lightly for a couple of minutes. Return the sausage and onions, broccoli to the pan. Toss to combine and add the reserved pasta water (or chicken broth). Turn the heat up to high and simmer for 1-2 minutes. Stir in lemon juice and zest and serve with the bread.