Grammie's Cabbage and Noodles

This dish is a long-time family favorite, first served by my mom's mother, Julia, during the depression. Grammie brought this recipe over from Poland when she made the trip to our country as a young teen in 1909. This dish is still very inexpensive to make, so it's a great meal when finances are tight. It can be served as a side dish but my family loves to have it as our main meal.

I adapted this dish a bit, using olive oil, as well as the butter that Grammie used. She would also make her own noodles. I bet that was awesome! I only wish I had Grammie's homemade pierogi recipe.

Grammie's Cabbage and Noodles

1-2 onions, chopped
1 head cabbage, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon coarse pepper
small dash cayenne pepper
1/2 cup chicken broth or water
1 pkg of noodles or pasta
Butter and/or olive oil, as desired

Cut onion and cabbage and place in large pan with olive oil, butter and seasonings. Saute cabbage and onions over medium heat. Add broth or water as needed, in small amounts. Don't stir a lot as you cook or the veggies will not brown properly. Cook until the cabbage and onion are caramelized. Caramelizing can take around 40 minutes. (Add a tablespoon or so of extra butter if mixture is not browning properly.) You'll end up with a lot less of the cabbage onion mixture than you started with. Taste for seasonings and put to the side until pasta is cooked. If you want to cook this mixture a day or two ahead, it keeps well.

While cabbage and onions are cooking, cook pasta in boiling salted water until tender. Follow package directions. Drain.

Once the onion and cabbage are well browned, add pasta and extra butter or olive oil as desired. Taste for seasonings.

Serve with a dollop of sour cream.