Vegetables for vitality: rapini

Not even a distant cousin of broccoli, rapini is a member of the turnip family. But its pleasantly peppery, bitter flavour is similar to that of broccoli and thereby comes its name, broccoli rabe (rapini). Read on to learn more about this unusual vegetable and its many health benefits.

Packed into 250 millilitres (one cup) of rapini:

• less than 20 calories
• nearly a day's requirement for vitamin C
• indoles to help fight cancer
• sulforaphane, a phytochemical that helps fight cancer
• 2.7 milligrams of beta-carotene

Season

Rapini, also known as broccoli rape, broccoli raab or broccoli rabe, is a cool-weather plant that is at its best and most abundant from fall to midwinter. It is popular in southern Italy, where it grows wild, as well as under cultivation. It is used in Italian and Chinese cooking.

What to look for

Rapini resembles broccoli but has thinner stems, smaller florets and more and bigger leaves. The stalks should be crisp and the florets themselves tightly closed. Stalks, florets and leaves should all be uniformly green and fresh-looking. Avoid limp stalks or discoloured leaves.

Storing

Keep rapini, unwashed, in a plastic bag in the vegetable drawer of the refrigerator for three or four days at most.

Preparation

Wash rapini well. Peel or remove tough lower stalks with a sharp paring knife. Stalks, florets and leaves are all edible.

Basic cooking

Many cooks like to blanch rapini in a large pan of lightly salted boiling water for two to three minutes before using it in a recipe. This slakes its bitterness. Put the cooked vegetable into ice-cold water to stop the cooking process. Drain well and chop into manageable pieces. You can sauté the pieces in olive oil with a little garlic until tender, about three minutes. Season with salt, pepper and lemon juice as a side dish for meat or poultry. Or, braise in a little chicken or vegetable stock.

Best uses in recipes

Rapini has been described as having stalks that taste like asparagus, florets that taste like broccoli and leaves that taste like mustard greens. It offers a nice sharp note to dishes like pasta sauces, omelettes, frittatas and polenta.

• Use cooked rapini with a little sautéed onion and bacon and a sprinkle of thyme (fresh or dried) to stuff mushroom caps for a hot hors d'oeuvre. Bake for five minutes before serving.
• Rapini gives a lift to white beans cooked with tomatoes. Add the cut-up vegetable for the final 15 minutes of cooking.
• Sauté blanched, cut-up rapini with sultanas and pine nuts.
• Cook pasta in the water that you have used to blanch rapini; this will intensify the flavour. Sauté finely chopped rapini in olive oil with garlic and other seasonings of your choice. Serve over the pasta.

Rapini is a best-selling vegetable in the food markets of Hong Kong.