Pasta with Sausage, Browned Butter and Broccoli Rabe

Steps

1. 1Cook pasta in a large pot of salted water until al dente. Set aside 2 cups of pasta water and drain the rest; set pasta and pasta water aside.
2. 2Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Breaking off a few little pieces at a time, add sausage to the skillet. The best way to describe this is to break off the sausage like you’re feeding white bread to ducks at the park– small, irregular little bits tossed into the skillet– this way, the sausage doesn’t clump together.
3. 3Let the sausage cook, stirring occasionally to keep it broken up and browning all over, until it’s golden brown and starting to look a little crispy, like it came from the top of a pizza, 5–8 minutes. Add the butter, letting it melt and brown around the sausage, a minute or two.
4. 4Increase heat to medium–high and add garlic. Give it a stir to evenly coat in the fat and cook, stirring occasionally, until it’s nicely browned, like little garlic chips, 90 seconds or so.
5. 5Starting with one large handful, add greens (the stemmy parts first, they take longer to cook) to the skillet and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until greens are wilted down, then add another handful, repeating with remaining greens.
6. 6Once greens are wilted and cooked and taste wonderful, add pasta and 1 cup of pasta water to the skillet. Cook, tossing and stirring frequently, until the pasta is cooked through (taste a piece of pasta after a few minutes to test) and the sauce is, well, saucy (it should be nicely thickened, almost creamy looking, not watery), 5 or so minutes (you can and should add more pasta water if the skillet looks dry before the pasta is cooked).
7. 7Remove from heat, add some cheese and lots of pepper directly to the skillet and toss to combine. Spoon into bowls and top with more parmesan, crushed red pepper flakes and more black pepper.