I've been talking about my
Hungarian Cabbage noodles on
Twitter, and on
Foodbuzz several days ago, when I decided to make this. Bought a beautiful perfect head of
cabbage, but I had so many other things that was in my refrigerator that I had to deal with, that I kept procrastinating with one excuse, after another. First, I kept saying to myself that I have to make home made noodles for this, second, it will take too long to make...yes, this one is true. You literally have to stand in front of the stove for at least 45 minutes, longer than making a
risotto, third, I will really have to make this from memory, because the original recipe has way too much
salt, and
cooking with
lard, is cholesterol "overkill." Actually, I have a 5th excuse too. All the other recipes found on the
Internet are not the way I want to make it, and NO, I don't want to add
poppy seed to my cabbage, as I saw one recipe out there, call for it. My 1963 Hungarian cookbook which I have inherited from my aunt Mariska, is a good source, which I am grateful that I can read it in Hungarian, but understanding the old European
metric system is not going over too well for me. Although, I did figure how much 10dkg. of lard is; a whopping 2/3 cup! Wow!...and it goes on, and on with all the other recipes as well. Very short versions, no photos, you really have to know what you are doing, because they don't give you directions too well, or cooking time in most recipes. So here goes, I once again had to create my own, from memory, but without all the extra fat, and salt. Recipe will follow, along with photos.
Hungarian Cabbage Noodles
1 nice large head of green cabbage, grated, or hand sliced
1/2 a package of a (17oz) Flora fresh dried Pappardelle
or any other dry noodles
salt, and freshly ground
black pepper to taste
1/3 cup pure
vegetable oil
1 pat, ( a Tbsp)
butter (opt.)
2 Tablespoons sugar
1 large onion, chopped
1/2 cup cooking
water saved, from the pasta
 |
| Halfway through the sauteing process |
Grate, or slice finely with a good sharp knife, by cutting the cabbage in half, cutting out the cores, and discard the outer dark leaves. Cut cabbage into smaller wedges that can fit into the chute of a
food processor, of slice the wedges into fairly thin slices. Heat oil in a large skillet and add the cabbage and chopped onion, directly into the skillet, Don't worry if it seems a lot, it will cook down, just have patience sauteing it, and slightly caramelizing it. Add salt, and pepper, start stirring, on med. high heat, and lowering heat, when it starts to get some color, and starts to get translucent, along with the
onions. At this stage, you can add the sugar to start to caramelize. Don't leave it alone, you constantly have to stir, probably in all, about 45 minutes to an hour. No joke...unless you want to have a burned awful mess, because the sugar caramelizes quite fast, so at this point you have to lower the temperature to low. In the meantime, boil the noodles, or Pappardelle, and drain, saving at least 1/2 cup of the cooking water. Add the cooked pasta, right into the skillet, the 1 Tablespoon butter if you like, and add the reserved water, to loosen it. This will give it a nice body, and texture. Add more salt, and pepper to it, and serve. This is at least 4 servings, and very tasty, if you are a cabbage lover, like we are. Great, as a leftover to heat up, and serve as a side dish.
