Pasta and Cabbage

Pasta and Cabbage

There are a whole series of pasta AND (insert your favorite vegetable here) recipes that originated, as so many good foods did, in times of poverty. They fill the tummy with minor dents in the purse and are nutrient rich and healthy. Usually vegetarian, they would be served with separately prepared meat if it was available or alone if it was not. They make wonderful vegetarian meals that are not just brown gack.

This is one of those recipes where the amounts and the timing are really just made up because it all depends on your taste. I’ll give you what I use but understand you can change it, I did. My mother-in-law, Rose, used to make this and I got the recipe from her originally. She did not use basil in it (“Carla…you can’t put basil in EVERYTHING”).

This makes a fine soup, a hearty main meal or a lovely side dish, depending on the consistency and serving size.

Ingredients

• 1 head of cabbage I like curly Savoy cabbage, Rose liked the round headed type of cabbage
• 1 onion
• 16 ounces chopped tomatoes
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 Tablespoon white sugar
• 1 Tablespoon ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 16 ounces pasta (I like little tubes)
• 1/3 cup fresh basil to taste (optional)
• grated Italian cheese (type and amount to taste) (optional)

Cooking Method

• slice onion and cabbage thinly
• place in large pot along with tomatoes
• toss on salt, pepper, and sugar
• drizzle with olive oil
• cover pot and allow vegetables to cook down until limp
• add basil in last 5 minutes of cooking
• cook pasta until al dente
• spoon pasta into vegetable pot, add some pasta water if needed to thin to desired consistency
• serve in a bowl unless very little water was used
• sprinkle with grated cheese