Can I Use Broccoli Rabe For The Spinach With Pine Nuts And Raisins?

Our answer

Nigella's Spinach With Pinenuts And Sultanas (from FEAST) mixes wilted spinach with a slightly sweet mixture of caramelized onions, pine nuts and sultanas (golden raisins). It is a good side dish for plain meat or fish and also as a dish in its own right.

Broccoli rabe is another cruciferous vegetable, but has a much more peppery and assertive flavour than spinach. However, if you like the flavour of broccoli rabe then the mixture of onions, pinenuts and sultanas should go quite well with it. Broccoli rabe is tougher and needs longer cooking than spinach, so we suggest either steaming or blanching the broccoli rabe until tender and then adding it to the pan of golden onions and continuing the recipe from there.