As quick-as-the-conchiglie lemon & cabbage pasta
Here’s another super speedy one. Much like our Faster-than-your-fusilli beetroot pasta this seasonal, vegcentric recipe can be pulled together in the time it takes to boil the pasta, and it’s damn near a one-pot-wonder to boot.
While ‘cabbage pasta’ may not sound like the most glamorous dish going its flavours are zippy and bold, and the overall feel of the dish is deeply comforting and nourishing thanks to the combination of wholegrain carbohydrates and protein-rich chickpeas. In terms of a wine-pairing, we recommend a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc. Read more on that here.
We cannot recommend the new range of pasta from Hodmedod’s more highly - hands down the best ‘healthy pasta’ we’ve ever tried. Bouncy, nutty, delightful! Our favourites are the emmer & fava bean for the perfect combination of protein and fibre, and the wholegrain spelt conchiglie which we’ve used here.
Despite the name any pasta shape will do - you can see below we love it with buckwheat spaghetti too - and topping your bowl with our flavour hack anchovy & caper breadcrumbs is a really excellent addition if you have the time, or better yet have a batch stashed in the freezer ready to go. To keep things vegan simply omit the anchovies.
The recipe below serves 2.
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 10-12 minutes
Ingredients:
Pasta sufficient for 2
1 tin chickpeas
½ small savoy cabbage
6 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic
2 anchovies
2 tsp baby capers
16 pitted green olives
1 lemon, juice & zest
flakey sea salt
black pepper
2 tbsp toasted hazelnuts, optional
Method:
Bring a large pot of generously salted water to boil over a high heat. Keeping the lid on will speed things up.
Meanwhile, finely shred the cabbage, peel and mince the garlic, and slice the olives in half. If you’re topping with toasted hazelnuts, coarsely chop these now too. And that’s all the ‘prep’ done!
Once your water is at a rolling boil throw your pasta and drained chickpeas into the boiling water and set a timer for 6 minutes.
Meanwhile, gently heat 4 tablespoons of olive oil in a small frying pan or saucepan. Once warm add the garlic, anchovies and baby capers. Keep the heat low/medium and fry these very gently for 2-4 mins stirring often. After 2-4 minutes kill the heat and add in the zest of the lemon and the sliced green olives.
After 6 minutes add your shredded cabbage to the pasta and chickpeas and set another timer for 3-4 minutes, depending on your pasta’s final cook time. If you’ve reduced the heat during cooking you may want to turn it back up at this point to keep things simmering.
After 3-4 minutes drain your pasta, chickpeas and cabbage, and reserve a few tablespoons of the cooking liquid.
Pour the lemony garlic infusion over your pasta etc. and be sure to use a rubber spatula to scrape in every last drop of that flavoursome oil. Add a generous pinch of salt and pepper and squeeze over the juice of the lemon. Stir well. If you like a ‘juicer’ bowl of pasta add a few tablespoons of the cooking liquid.
Serve in warmed bowls, perhaps topped with chopped hazelnuts or some epic anchovy & caper sourdough breadcrumbs.