Sweetheart cabbage and anchovy spaghetti with chilli pangrattato
So flexy, it's sexy, and it's a legit reason to buck the roasted cabbage trend
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Sorry I’m a couple of days late dropping this one guys. It’s been a bit of a week of it and I’ve had some other pressing work that’s been taking up some time, as well as an extra day with my daughter (joyful and exhausting in equal measure), but here it is - a really rather special, speedy, super flexible pasta recipe I think will should make a starring turn in your midweek, or even Sunday night, cooking repertoire…
In recent years, the trend for roasting sweetheart or hispi cabbage has really ramped up a notch. I don’t remember where I first ate chunky quarters of cabbage roasted to within an inch of their lives and drizzled with some manner of funky dressing, but increasingly, it’s a novelty to find cabbage on a menu that hasn’t been given the “I roast it like a piece of protein” treatment. And you know something has hit the mainstream when you can find a stock photo of it (below) here in Substack…
Now, let’s be real. I enjoy cabbage cooked in this way as much as the next roasted brassica enthusiast, after all, it brings out some really interesting flavours and heightens the sweetness thanks to the charred edges. I’ve also had some really marvellous versions cooked for me in restaurants, particularly ones that echo the nuttiness of the veg with some sort of crunchy topping like toasted buckwheat (as they do at The Rose here in Deal).
I’ve also cooked my own fair share of delicious roasted cabbage dishes, which I’m not ruling out sharing one on here at some point. But I do also think there is a strong case for remembering to embrace this sweet summer cabbage in other ways. We get a fortnightly veg delivery, and last week there was a sparklingly fresh sweetheart cabbage that I wanted to make the star of a show, so I shredded it super thin and caramelised it with butter, anchovy, garlic, chilli and lemon, then tangled it through glossy, starchy spaghetti to make this unforgettable but super speedy and economical weeknight dinner that I’m sharing with you here.
Change it up
This is a method and combination of ingredients I’ve used loads of times with sweetheart and white cabbage, but it also works beautifully with kale, cavolo nero or even pre-blanched broccoli or cauliflower, making it massively adaptable, and a really handy recipe to have in your bag for a weeknight when you want something wholesome and filling and utterly delicious. So please don’t be afraid to take the flavours at play here and use them up with what you’ve got lurking in your fridge’s veg drawer.
Crumb to mama…
When I’m making these kind of frugal, veg-forward pasta dishes I actually tend to like to lean into a crispy crumb topping along with or instead of cheese. I love the texture, substance and added savoury note of this ‘poor man’s parmesan’ - though you’ll notice I also used some parm in there too.
Possible shortcuts
If you don’t have time to rustle up the pangrattato, but fancy trying something crispy to go with the supple cabbage (I think it really makes it), reach for the panko if, like me, you have some of this ready crisped breadcrumb in your pantry. You could toss it with some chilli flakes and a pinch of sea salt and briefly toast it, and I also wouldn’t rule out using some togarashi scattered over the top here either. Italians might baulk at this idea, but it adds the heat, texture and sour note we’re looking for here, and spaghetti is essentially a noodle - so it works!
Top Tip
If you find yourself with only fresh, rather than stale bread, simply slice off a couple of pieces and dry them out in a low oven for fifteen minutes or so before making your breadcrumbs.
Possible subs
You could use fennel, instead of coriander seeds (though I love the citrussy pop they bring), and dried tarragon or parsley if you don’t have any fresh parsley. If you don’t eat anchovies, try frying off some drained capers instead with the butter, garlic, parsley and lemon.
I hope you enjoy this recipe and do drop me a note below letting me know your thoughts on the charred/roasted hispi trend. Is it ‘a thing’ where you live? I’d love to know…
Have a wonderful weekend and thanks for reading. As ever, if you think of anyone you might know who’d love to read these words and recipes and hear from me on a weekly basis, I would hugely appreciate you sharing this newsletter with them. It helps it to grow and hopefully evolve this space into something I can spend even more time and energy on making better for all you lovely readers.
Sweetheart cabbage and anchovy spaghetti with chilli pangrattato
Serves 2
For the chilli pangrattato
2 thick slices of stale sourdough or crusty bread, blitzed to a coarse breadcrumb
2 tbsp olive oil
a pinch of chilli flakes
a pinch of salt
For the spaghetti
A knob of butter
2 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, finely sliced
a pinch of coriander seeds
a handful of flat leaf parsley (stems and all, roughly chopped)
8 anchovy fillets, roughly chopped
the juice and zest of 1 lemon
1/2 a sweetheart cabbage, hard core removed and finely sliced
200g spaghetti salt and pepper
10g parmesan, finely grated
1. First make your pangrattato. Heat the olive oil in a heavy bottomed frying pan or skillet (save on washing up and do it in the pan you’ll cook the cabbage in too), then add the chilli flakes and breadcrumbs. Fry them, stirring constantly, until deeply golden and crispy - it takes a good few minutes. When the crumbs are crispy and dry, scrape them into a bowl to use for later.
2. Half fill (we won’t use too much water here as we want starchy pasta water) a large pan with water, salt generously and bring to the boil. Cook your spaghetti until al dente, and at the same time, cook your cabbage. Melt the butter and olive oil together in the frying pan you used to cook the crumbs, and slide in the parsley, garlic, lemon zest, coriander seeds and anchovy. Cook them together, stirring, until the anchovies have melted away and the garlic is starting to turn golden, then slide in the shredded cabbage and toss it with all the aromatic ingredients, coating it in the gubbinsy, flavoured fat. Cook it down for a few minutes until softened, then pour over the lemon juice and add in a good splash of the pasta water to loosen. Scatter over the grated parmesan and let that melt in, stirring to coat everything together.
3. Once the spaghetti is al dente and the cabbage is soft, supple and caramelised, use tongs to transfer the pasta into the cabbage pan and toss and tangle everything together, adding a dash more pasta water if needed to make things glossy - but never wet. Make sure the cabbage and pan sauce is coating every strand of spaghetti, then use tongs to divide it between warm bowls and top with the chilli crumb. Serve with the extra pangrattato as you’ll probably want to add more as you devour.
That is SO up my street, Rosie. Will definitely give it a whirl
This looks dreamy. I'm a convert to anchovies, once I had the proper ones, and not the weird dried out things on takeaway pizza. I still can't eat a whole one, but man...that flavour spreading out on your tongue in a sauce or dissolved into a grassy olive oil is a wonder.