Rapini, Cime di Rapa or Broccoli Rabe

Estimated reading time: 2 minutes

In the UK, this vegetable is known as Rapini or Turnip Tops, in the US, Broccoli Rabe or Raab and in one of the places of its birth, so to speak, Italy, it has the more romantic sounding name of Cime de Rapa. Ok, romantic to us non Italian speakers! However, even in Italy, it has a few nicknames – broccoletti, rapi, cime, etc. A green by any other name, and all that.

Cime de Rapa, Rapini, Broccoli Rabe

I don’t know how common they are in the US, but here in the UK, they’re not too well known, most people outside the food industry I have mentioned it too, have never heard of it, by any of its names. I get it from my usual grocery delivery company, Ocado, who specialise in artisanal products and have a great range from the Mediterranean amongst their stock.

Despite its little florets resembling the common broccoli, Cime de Rape is not actually related to the broccoli but is in fact a cousin of the turnip. The leaves, as you can see from the image above, are a deep, vibrant green. The Broccoli Rabe has a deep, earthy flavour with a hint of bitter, it is in fact, very versatile.

How to cook Broccoli Rabe

Cook it simply with garlic, ginger and sesame oil for an easy Chinese vegetable dish; with garlic, olive oil, anchovies and pasta the way they do in Apulia, Italy or with pasta and sausages for a deeper and multilayered flavour.

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4 thoughts on “Rapini, Cime di Rapa or Broccoli Rabe”

  1. Sharon Raymond

    I’m American and i can’t find a whole lot of things that i’m used to have in the States. Frustrating to say the lease. And I love Broccoli Raab. Rapini I shop with Ocado a lot and right now they do not have rapini. Any other place you might know of? Thank you!

  2. I’ve recently moved to UK from Italy and there are some vegetables I’m trying to find. Rapiniis one of them. I’ve tried Ocado, but they don’t seem to have them. Maybe later, in September.
    I’m quite baffled that I can’t seem to find froze artickoke hearts anywhere. They’re quite common in Italy. UK imports from all over the workd, so it’s strange that we can’t have them here. Actually, it seems very difficult to find fresh artichokes too.

    1. Hi Fabio, where in the UK are you? I can find fresh artichokes fairly easily, even off season.
      Try Mediterranean shops for frozen artichokes. And Ocado does frozen artichoke bottoms from Egypt, by Picard.

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