This is a simple preparation that can serve as a side dish or main course (add some cooked sausage if you like) and can be made with any dark green, from spinach to collards to turnip or mustard greens. It needs no cheese.

　　

Ingredients

makes 4 servings

　　Salt and black pepper to taste

　　1 pound broccoli raab, bottom stems trimmed

　　1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

　　3 or 4 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced, to taste

　　1 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes, or to taste

　　1 pound ziti or other cut pasta

　　

Step 1

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add salt. Put the broccoli raab in the water and cook it for about 5 minutes, until tender but still bright green. Remove it from the water, leaving the water in the pot, and rinse it quickly under cold water. Bring the water back to a boil.

　　

Step 2

Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large deep skillet over low heat. Add the garlic and red pepper and cook just until the garlic begins to sizzle, less than 5 minutes. Turn off the heat.

　　

Step 3

Cook the pasta in the boiling water, stirring frequently. Chop the broccoli raab so that no piece is more than an inch long. Turn the heat under the skillet to medium and heat the greens with the garlic and oil. When the pasta is done, reserve about a cup of the cooking liquid and drain. Add the pasta to the skillet with the greens and toss, adding enough of the pasta-cooking liquid to keep the dish moist and saucy. Taste and add black pepper and some salt if necessary. Serve immediately.

　　The Best Recipes in the World by Mark Bittman. © 2005 by Mark Bittman. Published by Broadway Books. All Rights Reserved.MARK BITTMAN is the author of the blockbuster The Best Recipes in the World (Broadway, 2005) and the classic bestseller How to Cook Everything, which has sold more than one million copies. He is also the coauthor, with Jean-Georges Vongerichten, of Simple to Spectacular and Jean-Georges: Cooking at Home with a Four-Star Chef. Mr. Bittman is a prolific writer, makes frequent appearances on radio and television, and is the host of The Best Recipes in the World, a 13-part series on public television. He lives in New York and Connecticut.