This dish does not look like much but, man oh man, was it delicious. It felt more like a fall dish to me because of the cabbage and the sage and I will definitely be making it again, some time in October. It may seem as though I have added a lot of anchovy and sage and that the dish might be top heavy with those flavors, but trust me, the woodsiness of the sage and the saltiness of the anchovies balance perfectly with the sweet nuttiness of the cabbage.
Make sure you don't fuss with the cabbage too much while it is cooking as you want the cabbage leaves to caramelize which will happen if you don't stir too often. I went heavy on the cabbage, light on the pasta for my portion of the dish and L. went pasta-centric with a touch of cabbage for his - build the dish as it feels right for you.
This is a recipe for 2 people, rather than my usual 4.
4 cups of sliced cabbage (I cut it thinly down the core so that I end up with individual leaves as well as thin segments still attached to a sliver of core for multiple textures in the dish)
1/2 package of spaghetti noodles
2 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
6 anchovies
1 Tbsp roughly chopped fresh sage
1/3 cup panko
1/3 cup Parmesan
4 Tbsps butter
Prepare the spaghetti according to the directions on the package. As soon as you add the spaghetti to the boiling water, start putting together the cabbage component of the dish.
Melt 3 tablespoons of the butter in a large skillet over medium heat, along with the 2 cloves of garlic, the anchovies and half of the chopped sage. As soon as the garlic is fragrant and the anchovies have melted into the butter, add the cabbage to the pan. Cook for 5 minutes or so, stirring once to keep the cabbage from burning but allowing the leaves to char slightly and caramelize. Transfer to a bowl, remove the garlic, stir in the remaining fresh sage, and set aside.
Using the unwashed pan that the cabbage cooked in, melt the remaining butter. As soon as it is melted, raise the heat to high and add the panko. Cook, stirring constantly, until the panko is golden brown and crispy, about a minute. As soon as that happens, remove the pan from the heat and stir the Parmesan into the panko. Set aside.
Drain the pasta which should be ready right about now. Mix the pasta and the cabbage mixture together. As mentioned above, proportions of each are a very personal matter! Top each bowl with half of the panko mixture and stir to combine.
I didn't feel that the dish needed extra salt but adjust the seasoning to your preference and dig in.
Inspiration recipe, here.
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