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Brown Butter Bucatini With Charred Cabbage
Published April 23, 2024
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- Total Time
- 45 minutes
- Prep Time
- 5 minutes
- Cook Time
- 40 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
- Salt and freshly cracked black pepper
- 2tablespoons grapeseed or other neutral-flavored oil
- 1small green cabbage (about 1 ½ pounds), halved, cored and thinly sliced
- 12ounces bucatini
- 8tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into chunks
- ½cup roughly chopped raw pecans
- 2cups/6 ounces coarsely grated Parmesan
- ⅓cup parsley leaves, roughly chopped
Preparation
- Step 1
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Season the water with enough salt that it tastes like a slightly salty soup.
- Step 2
In a large skillet over medium-high heat, heat the oil until it shimmers. Add the cabbage and a large pinch of salt. Cook, stirring frequently, until the cabbage softens, shrinks and becomes deeply charred in spots, 20 to 25 minutes. Season aggressively with pepper, taste for salt and season accordingly, and transfer the cabbage to a plate. Wipe out the skillet.
- Step 3
Add the bucatini to the boiling water and cook for 1 minute less than the package instructs. Drain, reserving 2 cups of pasta water.
- Step 4
To the large skillet, add the butter, pecans and a pinch of salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the butter turns golden brown and smells nutty, 2 to 3 minutes. Add 1 cup of pasta water, the cabbage and the cooked pasta and stir to coat. Simmer until the sauce thickens, 3 to 5 minutes. Add half of the cheese and all the parsley and stir vigorously until the sauce coats the pasta and the cheese melts. If the pasta seems too dry, add a splash of pasta water.
- Step 5
Divide among bowls and top with the remaining cheese and some freshly cracked black pepper. Serve immediately.
Private Notes
Cooking Notes
We loved this. Def one of those where the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. That said, next time might try roasting the cabbage to see if it caramelizes at bit more evenly at requires less attention. Might also try a little less butter, add a splash of lemon juice for brightness to balance the richness, and maybe even mash in a few anchovies. But probably Ham is right - and it’s perfect the way it was.
Pretty tasty, I'll probably make again. It is very rich. I feel like something was missing, wish I knew what... Maybe just a little acid at the end, or maybe I needed to be more aggressive with the salt and pepper. Anyway, still a really nice, different pasta dish.
Added mushrooms to this and a couple of anchovies to the grape seed oil when cooking the cabbage which I pretty much doubled. This is a great recipe.
Cut back on the Parmesan (<1 cup) and used pine nuts instead of pecans (1 cup). Topped with green onions. Huge hit for my partner who usually gripes about pasta dishes, asked for it to be repeated. Love all the additional fiber for the cabbage, could probably increase the cabbage amount to 2lbs for more veggies. Recommend!
So delicious and really easy to make. Great way to use up leftover cabbage. Bucatini really holds up to the cabbage and pecans but can easily use spaghetti or fettuccine. Will cook again in the fall and plan on adding roasted butternut squash and sage.
So good! During dinner, my 3 year old asked if she could also have it for lunch. I changed the proportions a bit, using a 3+lb cabbage, 3/4 c pecans (which I pre-toasted), and 1lb fettucine. I dropped the butter to 5 Tbsp and the cheese to 1 cup, and it was still plenty rich.
Used red cabbage and spaghetti (it's what I had on hand) and really enjoyed this. Simple, quick and a nice way to use up leftover cabbage.
Treat yourself and add a splash of heavy cream at the end! Used hazelnuts instead of pecans because I had them on hand. Would double the nuts next time for added texture! So delicious!
Delicious and easy. I used kale because I didn’t have cabbage and added diced onion and garlic scapes to the butter before adding the pasta.
I hadn't entertained the thought about frying cabbage in this way. It really blends well with the pecans and browned butter and the pasta. It was scrumptious.
Changed my entire worldview on cabbage. Seriously so good, even with vegan butter.
Really good and really easy. Agree with others that more cabbage (and parsley) would be better. And a squeeze of lemon juice at the end is perfect!
Easy and delicious! I could eat pasta everyday. The GF doesn't like red sauce so I'm always on the lookout for non-red options. We both loved this one. I made it with a pound of pasta (I hate when recipes don't use the full pound! ) and rounded up ingredients but next time I'll up the cabbage a bit more for better proportions. Would like to experiment with maybe red cabbage and/or radicchio next time and maybe almonds. Either way - def making this one again.
So delicious! I roasted the cabbage in the oven, and added some Hatch green chili flakes to the butter and pecan mixture, but otherwise followed the recipe. It was a BIG hit. My only warning is that even my largest skillet wasn’t big enough when I added the cabbage and bucatini — no room to stir! I dumped everything back into the pot I used to boil the pasta.
Amazing!
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