Austrian pasta with caramelised cabbage (Krautfleckerl)

Krautfleckerl is a typical Austrian dish of pasta and cabbage.

Credit: Susanne Zimmel

• serves

  4

• prep

  10 minutes

• cook

  15 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Kraut is the German word for cabbage and Fleckerl is a handmade, square-cut noodle. Usually, white cabbage is cooked with caramelised sugar and flavoured with vinegar and caraway seeds, but I’ve given my version a fresher taste with spring cabbage, spring onions and fresh marjoram.

Ingredients

• 1 spring cabbage (see Note)
• a few handfuls of fleckerl (see Note) or farfalle
• 1 tbsp ghee or vegetable oil
• 1 small bunch spring onions, cut into 2 cm lengths
• 1 tbsp white sugar
• 1 tsp roughly chopped caraway seeds
• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• salt and freshly ground black pepper, to season
• fresh marjoram leaves, to serve

Instructions

Cut the cabbage in half and remove the core. Cut into quarters, then crosswise into 2 cm strips.

Cook the pasta in a large saucepan of salted water until al dente (it should be ready when the cabbage is cooked). Drain, reserving some cooking water.

Meanwhile, melt the ghee in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the spring onions and stir-fry until just browned. Remove from the pan and set aside.

Melt the remaining ghee, sprinkle in the sugar and cook for 5 minutes or until golden brown and caramelised.

Add the cabbage (take care as the caramelised sugar is very hot) and cook, stirring constantly, for 2–3 minutes or until combined. Stir in the caraway seeds and deglaze with the vinegar. Season with salt and pepper.

Fold in the pasta. Add some cooking water to loosen, if necessary.

Transfer to a serving bowl, sprinkle with the fresh marjoram and serve hot.

Note

• Spring or young cabbage is available from selected farmers markets and greengrocers. Substitute white cabbage and use the soft leaves only.

• Fleckerl is a common Austrian dried pasta characterised by a rough square shape. Substitute with broken tagliatelle or cut fresh lasagne sheet into squares.

Recipe from ziiikocht by Susanne Zimmel with photographs by Susanne Zimmel.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.

Kraut is the German word for cabbage and Fleckerl is a handmade, square-cut noodle. Usually, white cabbage is cooked with caramelised sugar and flavoured with vinegar and caraway seeds, but I’ve given my version a fresher taste with spring cabbage, spring onions and fresh marjoram.