Pasta With Caramelized Cabbage, Anchovies and Bread Crumbs

By Melissa Clark

Pasta With Caramelized Cabbage, Anchovies and Bread Crumbs
Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times
Total Time
40 minutes
Rating
5(1,853)
Comments
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This dish is hearty and robust, with a savory backbone from the anchovies, sage and pecorino, as well as a bite from the red chile flakes. (A note to anchovy haters: add them anyway. They dissolve into the sauce and add complexity without any fishiness.)

Although I used regular pasta, I think farro pasta or whole-wheat pasta would also have stood up to the brawny flavors of the dish. Or, if you wanted to take this in a meatier direction, you could substitute bacon for anchovies, reducing the olive oil and using some of the bacon fat to cook the cabbage. Pork products and cabbage are a match made in heaven, or at least in much of Eastern Europe.

Featured in: A Good Appetite: Cabbage Flexes Its Muscles Three Ways

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Ingredients

Yield:4 to 6 servings
  • 5garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
  • 2tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 4anchovy fillets
  • ½cup coarse bread crumbs
  • 1tablespoon finely chopped fresh sage
  • ¼teaspoon black pepper, plus more, to taste
  • Kosher salt, to taste
  • 1pound dry penne
  • ⅓cup extra virgin olive oil
  • ½teaspoon red chile flakes
  • 8cups shredded cabbage
  • ⅔cup grated pecorino or Parmesan.
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)

506 calories; 19 grams fat; 5 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 10 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 70 grams carbohydrates; 6 grams dietary fiber; 6 grams sugars; 14 grams protein; 476 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Mince one garlic clove. Melt the butter in a small skillet over medium heat. Add the anchovies and cook, mashing with a spatula, until they dissolve into the butter. Stir in the minced garlic and cook until fragrant. Stir in the bread crumbs and sage and cook until bread is golden brown, about 2 minutes. Season with black pepper.

  2. Step 2

    Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook according to package instructions until barely al dente. Drain.

  3. Step 3

    While the pasta cooks, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the remaining garlic and cook until golden brown. Add the chile and cook until fragrant. Stir in the cabbage and cook, stirring occasionally, until it begins to caramelize, about 10 minutes. Toss in the pasta and bread-crumb mixture and heat through, then quickly toss in the cheese and remove from heat. Season with salt and more pepper, if desired, and serve immediately.

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5 out of 5
1,853 user ratings
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Comments

DrJim

My wife and I have been making this recipe for decades, as she inherited from her eastern European grandmother. Cooking the cabbage down for 10 minutes? Preposterous! It routinely takes us up to an hour. Using a dutch oven, cook most of the water out of it and assure it's all well-coated in oil, which itself takes a good 15 minutes, then put in a 350 oven and check on it every 15 minutes or so and stir it around. It's so worth the effort and makes the most savory dish imaginable.

Ellen

I typically roast the shredded cabbage tossed with salt and olive oil in a 425 F oven for 15-18 minutes. Caramelizes perfectly in no time flat. Stir half way through. Keep an eye on it so it doesn't burn. I also serve the cabbage alone as a side dish with roast meats or latkes. Add some pine nuts and currants. Yum.

DNA

I used about half the pasta called for, but increased the anchovies a bit - it really gives it a zing. Definitely use Panko crumbs for crunch. It's also delicious with extra vegetables sauteed in, like sliced red pepper and mushrooms. But the cabbage has to cook long enough so it's nicely caramelized and not watery. I think it takes longer than ten minutes.

Jasper

I like this dish. I think problems I have read with carmelizing the cabbage may come down to not shredding it finely enough; then there's little problem with timing the cabbage to the pasta cooking. I would add more anchovy as well to suit my taste. I like breadcrumbs coarsely ground in the food processor from bread I let sit out for the day. I also like only having to use one saute pan and one pot. Cook the breadcrumb mix, set aside, use the pan for the cabbage.

Susan Nakagawa

Agree with the comments about timing for the cabbage. Right now it's been sitting on a low flame for an hour and is just starting to achieve the silky unctuous flavor and texture. BTW--another great recipe is in Mollly Stevens' 'All About Braising' and is absolutely fantastic. Head of cabbage, one carrot, one onion, a bit of stock, braise in a low oven for a couple hours and it's astonishing how the most humble of ingredients come together into something so delish.

Daniel

Really delicious and simple, fast. Used Campanelle shape and didn't have bread crumbs so cut up an aging bread into small chunks and toasted them in the butter/anchovy until crispy.

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