The amount of oil called for in this recipe might shock you, but to get the rapini nicely sautéed and coated in all the flavors of the chile, shallot, and thyme, it really is necessary. If you don’t want to end up eating all that oil, you can remove the rapini from the pan with tongs, leaving the oil behind. Or you can serve it all together, and let the olive oil pool beneath the rapini on the plate. Of course, I can never resist sopping up the oil with a crusty hunk of bread!

　　

Ingredients

1 1/2 pounds rapini, ends trimmed

　　1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

　　3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

　　2 shallots, thinly sliced

　　1 teaspoon thyme leaves

　　1 chile de árbol, thinly sliced on the diagonal

　　Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

　　

Step 1

Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil.

　　

Step 2

Blanch the rapini a couple of minutes in the rapidly boiling water, until just tender and al dente. Drain, and cool on a platter or baking sheet.

　　

Step 3

Heat a large sauté pan over high heat for 2 minutes. Pour in 1/4 cup olive oil and add the garlic, shallots, thyme, and chile. Cook a few minutes, until the shallots are translucent. Add the rapini and 1 teaspoon salt. Stir well, coating the rapini with the other ingredients and bathing it in the oil. Drizzle the remaining 1/4 cup oil over the rapini, and sauté 2 minutes, tossing often. Sprinkle another teaspoon salt and a pinch of black pepper over the rapini, toss, and taste for seasoning.

　　Sunday Suppers at Lucques[by Suzanne Goin with Teri Gelber. Copyright © 2005 by Suzanne Goin. Published by Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved..Suzanne Goin graduated from Brown University. She was named Best Creative Chef by Boston magazine in 1994, one of the Best New Chefs by Food & Wine in 1999, and was nominated for a James Beard Award in 2003, 2004, and 2005. She and her business partner, Caroline Styne, also run the restaurant A.O.C. in Los Angeles, where Goin lives with her husband, David Lentz.Teri Gelber is a food writer and public-radio producer living in Los Angeles.](http://astore.amazon.com/epistore-20/detail/1400042151)