Egg Noodles with Cabbage & Cumin
Krautfleckerl recipe: 2 main course servings
INGREDIENTS
- ½ large head of cabbage cut
- 1 onion diced
- 1 c. square egg noodles (Fleckerl mit Ei).
- 3 tbsp. Butter + 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp. olive oil
- 5 cloves garlic
- 1 large tbsp. cumin
- 100g Pancetta diced
- Pepper and salt to taste
- Quark, ricotta, or sour cream + fresh herbs for garnish
EQUIPMENT
- Cutting board
- Knife
- Collander
- Pot
- Wooden spoon
METHOD
- Slice and dice the cabbage into bite-size squares and put into a large bowl.
- Sprinkle with salt and massage cabbage to break it down and release the water.
- Let rest for 15 minutes then drain.
- Boil salted water for pasta and cook pasta according to the package to be al dente.
- Drain pasta and toss with olive oil. Set aside.
- Heat butter and olive oil in pot or large deep pan.
- Add onion and sauté until light brown.
- Add pancetta and sauté for 1-2 minutes.
- Add garlic and cumin, stir for about 30 seconds
- Add cabbage and mix with onions and seasoning.
- Cover and cook for 1 hour mixing every 10-15 minutes.
- Fold in cooked pasta and warm through.
- Taste and season with salt and pepper.
- Serve hot with a dollop of quark, ricotta, or sour cream and fresh herbs such as parsley, thyme, or chives.
What is Krautfleckerl?
Krautfleckerl is a traditional Austrian dish made with cabbage, noodles, onion and cumin. Kraut + Fleckerl. It is simple, easy, inexpensive, tasty, and comforting. This cozy dish can be enjoyed as a side or main and is perfect in Autumn and Winter seasons. It keeps well and tastes fantastic the second day.
Fleckerl is a square or diamond-shaped egg noodle commonly found in Austrian and Serbian kitchens. You can also find this noodle shape in Italy made without the egg. In this recipe, I have cut the cabbage into the same shape to seamlessly blend with the traditional diamond shape of the pasta. If these are not available to you and you are in the US, the No Yolks Dumplings would taste fantastic in this recipe.
Substitutions and Variations
This traditional cabbage and pasta recipe calls to caramelize sugar before adding onions. However, I have chosen to omit the sugar and add garlic to make this Krautfleckerl more savory and less sweet and allow the onions to caramelize on their own.
Alternatively, you can make this recipe vegetarian by substituting the butter for olive oil or rapeseed/ sunflower oil and omitting the pancetta. If you want to add some additional vegetarian proteins to this recipe would work nicely with sauteed white mushrooms, fried tofu, or cannellini beans folded in at the end. Make it vegan by substituting the egg noodles with a vegan egg noodle recipe.
Great for Camping
I have learned over the years, that cabbage is an excellent vegetable for car camping as it has a resilient outer layer of leaves, doesn’t require refrigeration, and is perfect for both fresh salads and bulking up stews, curries, and soups. Krautfleckerl makes an excellent camping option since all the ingredients do not require refrigeration and the entire meal can be made with one pot and one bowl making it easy to clean up. Ideally, it would be made over a fire in a potjie, dutch oven, or cast-iron pot rather than gas as the cooking time is roughly an hour to break down the cabbage.
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