Pasta With Caramelized Cabbage, Anchovies and Bread Crumbs Recipe (2024)

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.

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.

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.

We love Melissa Clark's pasta with anchovies and kale, and so endeavoured to make this as similar as possible. The cabbage is a fine substitute for kale (I'm half Polish so I'm legally obliged to never denigrate cabbage) and I highly recommend adding a tablespoon or two of capers to the hot butter when you're preparing the bread crumbs. Molto bene/Bardzo dobrze!

Outstanding recipe! Similar to Melissa's pasta with caramelized onions and Swiss Chard, but a bit tastier. The caramelized cabbage was a sweet and very tasty accompaniment to the pasta. I found that it helped in the caramelization to add some salt to the cabbage at first and cover the pan for about 5 min. to help release the water from the cabbage, and then to cook over hight heat, uncovered, with more or less constant stirring for another 10-15 min. The anchovies are essential!!

I suggest shredding the cabbage, salting, and leaving in a colander for about 30 minutes. Without all the water, the cabbage will brown faster and better.

So delicious! Before draining the pasta, reserve at least 1/2 cup of pasta water to help loosen the sauce if needed. We used only about 8 oz of pasta to complement this amount of cabbage. Pecorino Romano cheese works as well as Parmesan. Panko worked fine for the bread crumbs.

Surprisingly delicious! I was looking to use up some cabbage, and now I buy cabbage specifically for this recipe. And add the anchovies. Really.

As mentioned below, 8 0z. dried pasta is more than sufficient to add bulk to the dish. Used 2 tbs. (Vietnamese) fish sauce in the butter/crumb mixture (no tinned anchovies on hand). The flavor "punch" was spot on. To caramelize the cabbage, it required more like 20 minutes on a slow flame, with the final 5 minutes on high heat.

It strikes me that Brussels sprouts would work great with this also.

Use purple cabbage for nice color

This was outstanding! The only changes I made were to squeeze some lemon over it to brighten and to sprinkle on some chopped walnuts. I loved it!

For 2 eaters, I halved the pasta and vegetables, slipped in a few more anchovies and more pepper, and kept other proportions the same. For more zing, I switched the garlic - less caramelized, more in the panko mixture. And because I had less cabbage than expected, I filled in with a several handfuls of coarsely chopped brussels sprouts. I also used about 3/4 cup of pasta water in the last step. Final results: delicious!

This was so delicious! My husband gave it a solid 10. The changes I made were used 12 ozs of pasta and a full can of anchovy fillets. I also took some hints from other cooks and added 2 tablespoons of capers to the panko bread crumbs. Also, the cabbage does not caramelize in 10 minutes, took me about 40 minutes to caramelize! First, on low heat to let the water evaporate and then on high heat to caramelize!

Anyone have a suggestion for replacing anchovies (I'm cooking for a vegetarian?

Shredded and salted the cabbage and left it to drain in a colander to get rid of some moisture. I wish that I had blotted off the moisture or run it thru the salad spinner- not sure what difference the early salting madeRoasted the cabbage with the garlic and olive oil in a hot oven, 425 for 18 min, stirring halfway. Much easier than stove top.Used half the pasta. Panko crumbs. Used fish sauce instead of anchovies because that's what I had in the house.

Added brussel sprouts and onion

Holy cow, twice over!First of all, holy cow, it took FOREVER to caramelize the cabbage. Almost 45 minutes even after I salted it and let it sit in a colander for an hour! Glad I read other people’s notes and waited to make the pasta. BUT, when it was done, holy cow, SO DELICIOUS! Who knew cabbage could be so delicious. It was a revelation. I had some mushrooms about to go bad so I roasted them and threw them in when I added the pasta. I also added extra anchovies. Amazing!

Simple ingredients, terrific results. Thank you to the commenters who recommended using 12 oz of pasta and cooking the cabbage on low heat, covered, before removing the lid and turning the heat up to caramelize!

Yum! Made extra garlic-sage breadcrumbs because they are delicious. Also crisped up some pancetta and added chopped leeks along with the cabbage. Sfoglini porcini trumpets pasta was a great match. Pasta water for moistness and a drizzle of god olive oil on top. Delicious!

Needs a little sauce

Wonderful winter comfort fare. Made this on a rainy day when I didn’t feel like venturing out for groceries and happened to have some cabbage languishing in the veggie bin. Also had a bag of chestnut pasta I’d bought eons ago on a whim, which turned out to be a perfect for this dish. Very satisfying making a good meal out of odds and ends from the fridge and pantry! The sage is a key element, as are the anchovies (and butter). Panko works great. Caramelizing cabbage took about 45 mins.

Add rotisserie chicken and if wanted franks

I made one substitute which was Trader Joe’s Ricotta Lemon Ravioli for the Penne. I thought the dish was great. Easy to put together with ingredients on hand. A little spicy, a little salty and balanced with the caramelized cabbage and garlic etc. - flavors were wonderful. And a great way to use sage from the garden. For me, it was one of my tastier NYT tries.

I strongly recommend cooking the cabbage for the first 10-15 mins medium low with the lid on before raising the heat, adding a dab of butter, and caramelizing. If the heat is too high to start the cabbage blackens before it can caramelize. I didn't have fresh sage so combined fresh thyme with a little dried sage. A surprisingly easy and delicious weeknight pasta. Don't sleep on the breadcrumbs, they make this dish!

Only change I made was popping the shredded cabbage in the oven at 400F for 20 minutes, as another poster recommended. It roasted up nicely. Then proceeded to cook as described here, although I didn't have any sage. Turned out wonderfully, super savory and reasonably healthy.

Excellent as is, but to appease the cabbage sceptics in my house, I often add bacon and bocconcini, and frankly, I have grown to like the plussed up version more than than the original.

Definitely a keeper. I made as written but in future will include some reader suggestions: longer cook time for cabbage, add walnuts and a squeeze of lemon. I’m going to add sausage as well to please my carnivorous family.

This recipe is delicious! I’ve made it many times and played with variations. My personal preference is for half the pasta, linguine pasta (rather than penne) and lots more anchovies. I use the entire can and also use the anchovy oil in place of some of the regular olive oil.