Like its pasta namesake, this is a fast dish of few ingredients, but impressive nonetheless.
I LOVE cacio pepe pasta, but I also try to find ways to incorporate more vegetables into my daily diet, especially cruciferous veggies like cabbage. This recipe was born out of the need to use up a head of cabbage and some odds/ends of hard cheeses that were lingering about in my fridge. It came out great, and I’m sure that I’ll be making it again.
Cacio Pepe Cabbage:
Ingredients:
- 1 large head of cabbage
- 2 cups of shredded pecorino or other hard cheeses of your choice
- 1-2 tbsp butter
- 1-2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp peppercorns
- 1 bag spinach or kale (frozen or fresh-chopped)
- Salt to taste
Step-by-step video (shown above):
Thinly slice your cabbage so that it mimics long strands of pasta (it will never be quite as good as the real thing (because, let’s face it, cabbage is no replacement for a carb), but we’ll do our best with the other ingredients to trick you. Pecorino is the best cheese for this dish – but you can substitute any hard cheese you have on hand. Toasting your peppercorns will add a more complex flavor by activating their volatile oils to bring out the pepper’s complex aroma and smoky notes.
Recipe:
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Finely cut your cabbage into thin strips.
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Toast your peppercorns in a hot pan for 3-5 mins on medium-high heat until they are fragrant and you hear some cracking.
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Remove peppercorns from the heat and grind with a mortar and pestle (if you don’t have one, you can crush them with a rolling pin on top of a cutting board).
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Add oil and butter to a pan over medium heat, once melted add cabbage and stir until it is coated.
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Cover and cook for 5 mins; stir after 5 mins and then cover and cook again for 5 mins.
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Add in cheese and stir well until melted and creamy.
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Stir in the freshly ground pepper and salt to taste.
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Serve hot so that the cheese is melted and creamy.
