- 1 pound pasta
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 7 or 8 fat garlic cloves, sliced (about ½ cup)
- 6 ounces bacon or prosciutto ends in strips (1 cup)
- ½ teaspoon dried peperoncino (hot red pepper flakes), or to taste
- 1½ cups cooked ceci (chickpeas), or 1 pound canned, drained and rinsed
- Hot water from the pasta-cooking pot
- 2 pounds broccoli di rape, trimmed, washed and cut into 1-inch lengths (about 6 cups)
- ½ teaspoon salt, or to taste
- Chopped fresh Italian parsley
- 1 cup grated Pecorino Romano, Parmigiano-Reggiano, or Grana Padano
- Start cooking the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water 5 minutes before you begin the sauce if you are using dry pasta, or just after, if using fresh pasta.
- Pour 1/3 cup of the olive oil into a big skillet.
- Toast the peperoncino for ½ minute; stir in with the garlic and bacon or prosciutto. Cook for another 2½ minutes or more, shaking the pan and stirring now and then, until the bacon has rendered its fat and is crisping.
- Pour the ceci into the skillet, and ladle in 2 cups of hot water from the pasta-cooking pot. Stir briefly, and bring the liquid to a boil.
- Dump the broccoli di rape pieces on top of the other ingredients, place a cover on the pan, and let the greens steam and wilt for a minute or so.
- Uncover, and stir in the broccoli di rape and another 1½ tablespoons of the olive oil. Lower the heat to maintain an active simmer, and cook the sauce, covered, for 6 to 8 minutes, until the beans and greens are quite tender. (You can start cooking dry pasta at this time too.)
- Uncover the pan and taste the sauce; add salt if you wish. If the sauce seems soupy, raise the heat and cook until there’s only a shallow layer of liquid around the vegetables. Keep the sauce barely simmering until the pasta is ready.
- When the pasta is done almost al dente, scoop it up and into the skillet to finish cooking. Add the parsley during the initial tossing; off the heat, toss in the cheese and the remaining olive oil just before serving.