Cime di rapa (pronounced chee-meh dee rah-pah), a dark green leafy vegetable with small florets, are known as broccoli rabe in the United States. In Naples they go by the name of friarielli. Cime di rapa are mainly grown in southern areas like Campania, Puglia and Calabria. They are used in pasta sauces or as a vegetable, served with sausages or other meats, or as a filling for homemade focaccia.  

The best-known recipe in Italy for enjoying broccoli rabe is orecchiette alle cime di rapa. Orecchiette is a special shape of durum wheat pasta that looks like a concave disk, which women in Bari still make by hand on the streets of the old city, next to each other at wooden tables, letting them dry on special racks. The cime di rapa are washed and then cooked in the same water as the orecchiette and, after boiling, they are fried in a pan with extra-virgin olive oil, a garlic clove, a pinch of chili pepper and anchovies. This simple dish conveys the flavors and aromas of the land it comes from.    

The most famous recipe in Italy for enjoying broccolini is orecchiette alle cime di rapa. Orecchiette is a special shape of durum wheat pasta that looks like a hollow disk, which women in Bari still prepare make by hand on the streets of the old city, next to each other at wooden tables, letting them dry on special racks. The broccolini are washed and then cooked in the same water as the orecchiette and, after boiling, they are fried in a pan with extra-virgin olive oil, a garlic clove, a pinch of chili pepper and anchovies. This simple dish conveys the flavors and aromas of the land it comes from.