Ingredients
Scale
14 oz cabbage leaves
1 big onion
1/4 cup pecorino cheese
1/4 cup parmesan cheese (+ 2 or 3 extra tbsp to use at the end)
7 fl oz extra-virgin olive oil
2 knobs butter
2 oz walnuts
14 oz bucatini pasta
fine & coarse salt to taste
Instructions
- Clean the cabbage leaves one by one. Let them dry for a few minutes, then place them in a large bowl.
- Fill a small pot with water, put it on the stove, and turn the heat on. This way, when you’ll need it to boil the pasta, the water will be already warm.
- Chop the onions and add them to the bowl.
- Add the olive oil, then blend everything together.
- Add the walnuts, and keep blending. Finally, do the same with the parmesan cheese. Salt to taste.
- Transfer the cabbage pesto to a wok or large skillet and cook over low heat for a couple of minutes.
- By this time, the water in the pot should have come to a boil. Add a handful of coarse salt and stir well.
- Add the pasta directly to the wok. Let it bathe in the pesto for a minute, then add 2 or 3 ladles of hot water. You don’t need much, just enough to cover all the pasta.
- Cook the pasta, stirring occasionally. After a few minutes, the water will begin to evaporate and the cabbage pesto will thicken. Add another 1 or 2 ladlefuls of water to keep cooking the pasta and to prevent the pesto from sticking to the wok. This process might take a few more minutes than the cooking time reported on the pasta box. Taste your bucatini every once in a while to check if they’re ready.
- When the pasta is al dente and all the water has evaporated, move the wok away from the heat. Stir the pasta well, then add 2 knobs of butter and a dusting of Parmesan cheese on top of it, and cover everything with a lid. Let it sit for 5 minutes.
- When the waiting time is up, remove the lid, stir, and enjoy.
Notes
Ideally, when the pasta is al dente, all the water should evaporate within a minute or so. If you add too much at a time, you might have to wait too much and overboil the pasta. So, make sure to add it 1 or 2 ladlesful at a time, and only when the amount you’ve added before has evaporated, or when the pesto sauce is about to stick to the wok.
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 30
- Category: Pasta