Friday, December 04, 2009

Pasta with Savoy Cabbage & Pancetta

Vermicelli with Savoy Cabbage & Pancetta
From 250 True Italian Pasta Dishes

Printable Recipe

Hands on time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: as long as it takes to boil the pasta plus 3 minutes
Serves 4-6

Ingredients:
1lb/450g vermicelli or spaghetti (I used fresh whole wheat linguine)
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
¾ cup pancetta, diced
¼ cup onion, diced (I used 1 small red onion)
Salt & freshly ground black pepper
1 cup dry white wine
1 ½ cups Savoy cabbage, deribbed and diced (I used ½ a small head, quartered, core removed and cut into ½” slices horizontally)
6 tbsp grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (I actually used Asiago)

Directions:
1. Cook the pasta according to the package in salted boiling water.

2. In the meantime, using a large skillet, heat the olive oil, pancetta and onion over high heat. Cook, stirring until the onion is translucent (about 5 minutes). Season to taste with salt & pepper. Add the wine and cook, stirring until reduced by half. Stir in the cabbage and reduce the heat to lowest possible and simmer until the cabbage is tender but still a bit crunchy.

3. Once the pasta is cooked, drain well, reserving a cup of the pasta water.

4. Add 2 tbsp of the cooking water to the cabbage mixture and raise the heat to high. Add the pasta and toss to coat evenly, using tongs. Add more pasta water if needed and half the cheese. Toss again.

5. Transfer to a serving bowl, top with the rest of the cheese and more freshly ground pepper and serve.

Ruth’s note: the author called for Italian vermicelli and suggested spaghettini or spaghetti as an option. I think any long pasta works well.

As for substitute for Savoy cabbage, Brussels sprouts, halved lengthwise and either whole leaves of smaller sprouts or cut across in thin slices for larger ones, make a great alternative.


5 comments:

Bella Baita Marla said...

Savoy cabbage and pancetta goes with many things as well as pasta. It's a great combination indeed.

Joanne said...

There are so few things that go better with pancetta than pasta and white wine. Delicious! And thanks for another excellent roundup!

Katie Zeller said...

I've been discovering the wonders of this cabbage recently... I'm making some tonight! (and last night)

sceaterian said...

We tried this last night and it was fabulous! Had to try it out before I recommended it to my friend Minnie.

Happy birthday, Min! I lessthan3 you so much!

You know who else would love this dish? Pete Wentz! You know, that crazy dude that writes that one blog?

Ruth Daniels said...

I am glad you all enjoyed this as much as we did.

And...Happy Birthday Minnie