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And you probably will, too, after trying brown butter bucatini with charred cabbage, cabbage Parm and yamitsuki (Japanese “addictive” cabbage).
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As you may know, my list of B.I.F., or Best Ingredients Forever, starts with anchovies and lemons, but it certainly doesn’t end there. Let’s have a look at some of the other ingredients in my heart and my cart, beginning with cabbage.
I came late to cabbage. Other than sauerkraut on a hot dog or a Rueben, I was indifferent to most forms of the crucifer until college. Then I came home one night to find my roommate savoring a bowl of steamed cabbage with butter and salt. It was so simple, so sweet and so supple, with floppy, mild-tasting leaves that had the texture of silk. Between the two of us, we finished the potful, which was stewed from an entire, rather large head. My cabbage devotion began then and there.
Apart from my husband and daughter, who are cabbage-shy but make exceptions for kimchi and coleslaw, cabbage worship has a vast congregation. The French are so enamored with it that they call their loved ones petits choux, or little cabbages. In Greek mythology, cabbages were considered a cure for drunkenness, and so, of course, were eaten in vast quantities. And let’s not forget the fabled cabbage patch, the only place a discerning stork could trust with a baby.
If you need more convincing, Ham El-Waylly’s brown butter bucatini with charred cabbage is sure to do the trick. Charring the cabbage adds a caramelized flavor, amping up the vegetable’s natural sweetness, while toasted pecans add an earthy crunch and underscore the nuttiness of the brown butter. Then it all gets tossed with Parmesan for a salty tang. It is, without a doubt, a five-star recipe.
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Brown Butter Bucatini With Charred Cabbage
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