I bought a Groupon a couple of weeks ago because it was advertised as "Unlimited Spa Services for 1-week for $20." How could I pass that up? I snatched up the deal and then started to look into the company a little more. It is for a spa called Planet Beach located in the Total Wine and More parking lot on Oracle. Upon further online searching, I came to realize the deal was really too good to be true. What makes this spa different is that none of the services are done by real people, everything is a machine. No real massages done by trained individuals--rather, they provide aqua massages and some sort of state-of-the-art robotic massage chair. No facials--rather, you slop a package of jelly on your face and sit under an infared light for 20 minutes. To say the least, I was a bit dissappointed. Regardless, I bought the Groupon, so I started my week last Wednesday. I went into the spa and made a promise to myself that I would get my moneys worth. I decided to try every single service--except for the "UV Therapy" aka tanning beds. They have a bed that you lie on and a heated "jade roller" moves up and down your back. They also have a bed where warm water shoots up and provides a massage. They also have a little sauna box and also this other thing called the Hydration Station. It's basically a capsule you lie in and it fills with hot steam to make you sweat. I'm down with that, open your pores, super. But then you can add these different colored light that are supposed to stimulate certain aspects of your body--red is for cellulite reduction, yellow is to stimulate lymphatics, blue is to target acne, purple is to prolong your tan. That seemed a bit hokey to me. Either way, I went back for my third visit today (like I said, I am going to get my moneys worth). I spent the afternoon getting an aqua massage and sitting in the sauna. To be honest, I don't know how I feel about Planet Beach. Getting a massage by a robotic chair is very different from getting a massage from a real person.
On to the food. After my "spa" day, I came home and wanted to make a nice hearty meal that would warm me up (it's freezing outside!). I decided to experiment with the rapini we received this week. I've never had the veggie before, but wikipedia told me it is similar to Chinese gailan. Normally the branches have flowers on them, but I think ours were harvested early in the season, so I just had a bunch of leaves. I did a little searching on tastespotting and saw there were a lot of recipes for rapini and sausage pasta. That was just what I was in the mood for and it seemed so simple.
I basically made up this recipe by throwing in whatever I had available at home. I bought turkey sausage and every time I do that I regret it. I always feel guilty getting the grease loaded pork sausage, so I give in a get turkey. I just can't do it anymore. The drippings from the pork sausage make a dish so much better! After cooking the turkey sausage, there was slim to no oil drippings at all so you don't get that yummy sausage flavor coating the pasta and rapini. I'm over my pork guilt trip. Sorry turkey, I'm going with the pork.
I decided to use orecchiette pasta because I thought it looked really cute with the sausage and rapini. The little cups are perfect to scoop up a little bit of meat and a little bit of veg. It doesn't really matter what kind of pasta you use, but I would suggest either a penne or shell. Really, whatever you have in your cabinet will be a-ok.
Enjoy this dish on a busy weeknight, it literally take 20 minutes to make. It's so easy and you don't need many ingredients. The dish has the bitter flavor of the rapini which is mellowed out by the savory fatty sausage.
Rapini and Sausage Orecchiette
- 1 lb orecchiette pasta, cooked
- 1 lb spicy Italian PORK sausage
- 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- Splash of chicken broth
- Splash of white wine
- 1 bunch rapini, coarsely chopped into 1 inch pieces
- 1 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 1/4 c. Parmesan cheese
- Fresh cracked pepper and kosher salt to taste
While the pasta is cooking, brown the sausage in a pan. After the sausage is done cooking, toss it with the cooked pasta and leave the drippings in the pan. Add the olive oil, onion, and garlic to the pan and saute until the onions are soft. Add the chicken broth and white wine and cook for a few minutes. Add the rapini and cook until wilted.
Add the veggie mixture to the pasta and sausage mix. Toss in the butter and cheese and stir until completely mixed. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Top with a sprinkle of cheese and eat piping hot.
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