This is another great recipe from Alison Roman’s new cookbook, Something From Nothing. Season ground pork, brown it and add garlic, fennel seeds and chile flakes. Add stock and simmer for a few minutes before adding cooked pasta. Add the broccoli rabe or kale and simmer until it has wilted. Serve topped with cheese. Cook’s note: In place of the pork, you can use fresh sausage (hot Italian, turkey, chicken), casing removed, leaving out the fennel seed and chile flakes. I used fusilli pasta and omitted the lemon juice.

Avoiding Additives sand Preservatives

Make sure the dried spices don’t contain colour or anti-caking agents. I used Better Than Bouillon for the stock. Genuine Parmesan does not contain colour or preservatives. Look for the name stamped on the rind.

Spicy pork soup with pasta and Parmesan

Ingredients:

1 tbsp (15 ml) olive oil, plus more for drizzling

1 lb (450 g) minced (ground) pork

kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

1 tbsp (15 ml) fennel seeds

½ tsp (2.5 ml) chile flakes, plus more to taste

6 cups (1.4 L) chicken or vegetable stock

6-8 oz (175–225 g) dried pasta

1 bunch broccoli rabe or kale, thick stems removed, chopped

Parmesan cheese, for grating or shaving (lots of it)

1 lemon, halved for squeezing (optional)

Preparation:

Heat the olive oil in a large pot over a medium-high heat. Add the pork and season with salt and pepper. Cook, resisting the urge to break it up too much at first. As it browns, break it up into small pieces; some of the pork will get very small (these bits will get very brown and crispy), and some will stay larger, in sausage-like clumps (these will be tender and juicier). Once the pork is about 80 per cent browned to your liking, 8–10 minutes, add the garlic. Continue cooking until the pork is well browned throughout and the garlic is softened and starting to brown around the edges, another 4–5 minutes.

Add the fennel seeds and chilli flakes. Give them a stir to toast in the pork fat, cooking for a minute or two. Add the stock, season with salt and pepper and bring to a simmer.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta in a medium pot of salted water until just before al dente. (It’ll continue to cook in the soup, but it’s good to give it a head start. Cooking raw pasta in a brothy soup makes the broth too starchy and cloudy.)

Once the soup has simmered for a few minutes, add the broccoli rabe or kale and the pasta, stirring to wilt the greens. Simmer until the rabe is tender and the flavours have mingled appropriately, another 5–8 minutes or so. Season with salt, pepper and more chilli flakes if you like.

To serve, ladle into bowls and top with a drizzle of olive oil and tons of cheese. Sometimes I squeeze lemon over, but not always (doesn’t need it, but it can be nice). Serves 4.

From Something from Nothing