Pasta with Sausage & Rapini

The first time I tasted this, I understood why this is one of the favourite dishes of so many Italians.  It's a marriage of flavours; the sweetness of the sausage and the pasta, the bitterness of the rapini, the saltiness of the Parmesan, the heat of the chili flakes, the fruitiness of the olive oil.

I'm intensely infatuated with this (I think of it often), and as it stands now, I would have to list it as my favourite pasta dish.  Once again, simplicity rules.

1 lb / 454 g sweet or hot Italian sausage
4 cloves garlic, minced
4 T extra virgin olive oil
1/4 - 1/2 t pepper flakes, depending how hot you like it
1 bunch rapini, washed and cut into bite-sized pieces
1 c low-sodium chicken stock
1 lb / 454 g penne, orecchiette or ziti
1/4 c grated Parmesan cheese

Bring a large pot of well-salted water to the boil for the pasta; keep at a simmer.

Remove casings from sausages.  Brown the sausage meat in a dry frying pan preheated over medium heat. As the meat begins to cook, break the pieces apart by pressing them against the bottom of the pan with the tines of a sturdy fork.

Bring the water back to a full boil and add pasta.

Once the sausage meat is browned, add the garlic, 2 T of the olive oil, pepper flakes, rapini and chicken stock.  Cover, and cook for 5 minutes.  Remove from heat.

Once the pasta is cooked, drain (reserving 1/2 a c or so pasta cooking water), and return the pasta to the pot.  Tip in the sausage meat mixture, along with the Parmesan cheese and the remaining 2 T olive oil.  Stir well.  Adjust thickness of sauce with pasta cooking water, if necessary.

Serves four generously.