Recipe - Noodles And Cabbage

One half cup Unsalted butter
cut into small pieces
8 lg Fresh sage leaves; =OR=
1 teaspoon Dried Sage
1 lg Garlic clove; cut or sliced up
Salt
One half pound Potatoes; peeled
cut into 1/2in cubes
3 lg Leeks; white parts only,
quartered and cut or sliced up
3/8in thick
2 Garlic cloves; minced
One half teaspoon Red pepper flakes
1 One half pound Savoy cabbage; quartered
cut into 1/2in slices
One half cup Grated Parmesan cheese
(fresh)
1 pound Fettuccine
One half pound Soft cheese; such as
Taleggio, Bel Paese
or Fresh Mozzarella, cut or sliced up

SLOWLY MELT BUTTER IN HEAVY PAN over low heat with 4 fresh sage leaves or
One half teaspoon dried, and the cut or sliced up garlic. When garlic is golden brown,
remove it, but continue to cook butter until light amber with a distinctly
nutty aroma. Scoop foam off top as it rises so that you can see the color,
then pour it through strainer lined with layer of cheesecloth. Meanwhile,
bring 4 quarts water to boil. Add 1 tablespoon salt and potatoes. Cook 5 to
8 minutes or until potatoes are fairly tender, but just short of being
done. Rinse them immediately with cool water and set them in colander to
drain, but reserve cooking water for pasta. Chop or crumble remaining sage
leaves. Heat half the brown butter in wide saute pan, add leeks, sage, half
the minced garlic and red pepper flakes. Cook over mediumlow heat until
leeks are soft. Add cabbage, 1 teaspoon salt and a little water. It might
be necessary to add cabbage in stages, letting some of it cook down before
adding rest. Cover pan and simmer until cabbage is cooked. Add Parmesan
cheese and season with plenty of freshly ground black pepper and salt, if
needed, to make flavors bright and strong. Return reserved cooking water to
boil, add pasta and partially cook it, leaving it a little chewier than you
would want to eat. Drain in colander, return it to empty pan and toss with
rest of butter, remaining minced garlic and potatoes. Season to taste with
salt and pepper. Butter casserole and layer half the noodles, half the
cabbage and most of cut or sliced up cheese. Shake casserole so that vegetables and
cheese can slip in among noodles. Add rest of pasta and cheese and finish
with layer of cabbage. At this point, dish can be refrigerated until ready
to bake. Bake at 425F about 20 minutes or until hot throughout and cheese
is melted. If casserole is cold when placed in oven, bake it covered 15
minutes, then remove cover and continue baking until heated through. Serve
from baking dish.

DEBORAH MADISON PRODIGY GUEST CHEFS COOKBOOK

From Gemini's MASSIVE MealMaster collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini