Pasta with Savoy cabbage, Dolcelatte and roasted walnuts

Taken from "VEG: simple, stylish and seasonal vegetarian cooking" by Catherine Mason (Pauntley Press, 2001, ISBN: 0-9534879-2-8, price £12.99)
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This is a lovely, robust winter dish, perfect for when you come in chilled from outside and need something a bit stodgy and warming. It is quite rich, so don't follow it with a heavy pudding.

To roast the walnuts just put them in a dry saucepan over a low to moderate heat for a few minutes. Shake the pan continuously to stop them from burning. When they start to smell toasty they're done.

  • 15 g (½ oz) butter
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 small Savoy cabbage, finely shredded and washed
  • 1 clove of garlic, crushed or finely chopped
  • salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • juice of half a lemon
  • 2 teaspoons fennel seeds
  • 150 g (5 oz) dry pasta spirals, or 250 g (9 oz) fresh
  • 50g (2 oz) roasted walnut pieces
  • 110 g (4 oz) Dolcelatte cheese, roughly cubed
  • 2-3 tablespoons cream
  • fresh Parmesan, grated

Heat the butter and oil in a large pan, add the cabbage and garlic, a little salt, the lemon juice and the fennel seeds, stir and cover. Cook over a gentle heat, stirring occasionally until the cabbage is tender but still has some bite. This will take anything from 15–25 minutes. You shouldn't need to add extra water, but if it seems to be catching (which it might, if your pan is on the thin side), just add a tiny amount of hot water from the kettle.

Cook the pasta in plenty of salted water, timing it to be ready with the cabbage. When both are cooked, drain the pasta and put it in the pan with the cabbage. Keep the heat on low. Add the walnuts, Dolcelatte cheese, cream and a little grated Parmesan. Season with plenty of black pepper and extra salt if you think it needs it. Give it all a good stir and serve on warmed plates, just as the Dolcelatte starts to melt. Serve with extra Parmesan, a crisp green salad and chilled Frascati.

VARIATION

Most types of cabbage work well in this dish. Even a kale, such as Cavolo Nero, would be good – the darker green making a nice contrast with the pale pasta and cheese. Some kales are rather tough and need de-stalking and a longer cooking time, so if in doubt, cook the kale before the pasta. It can be re-heated easily enough.

SERVES 2

Recipe copyright © 2001 Catherine Mason | other sample recipes