Łazanki is Polish recipe that typically combines wide flat noodles with cabbage (or sauerkraut), onion, and sometimes meat and/or mushrooms. Łazanki also refers specifically to the wide noodle used. If Wikipedia is to be believed, then łazanki came to Poland and the region in the 16th century when the Italian born Queen Bona Sforza introduced a multitude of new foods, including lasagna-type noodles. I believe it! Bona Sforza brought all sorts of vegetables up north-east with her and the Polish names of some of these foods sound like their Italian counterparts, like tomatoes (pomidori-pomidory).

This recipe is vegetarian, but you can add kiełbasa or bacon and use melted pork or chicken fat as well. Łazanki noodles are difficult to find outside of Polish delis, so you can use wide egg noodles, or even break up lasagna noodles instead. It is important that you give the onions and cabbage enough time to cook down and naturally sweeten.

Smacznego!

Ingredients:

• 12 – 16oz eggs noodles
• 1 small head green cabbage, or half medium cabbage (1½ – 2lbs)
• 2 large yellow onions (1 – 1½lbs)
• 2 tbsp oil
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp freshly cracked black pepper
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 tbsp fresh chopped parsley for garnish (optional)

Directions:

Remove damaged outermost leaves from cabbage and wash. Cut cabbage in half lengthwise and remove core. Cut each half lengthwise again and then cut into 1-inch chunks. Dice onion into 1/2-inch pieces.

Add oil and butter to a large pan over medium heat. Once butter has melted, add cabbage, onion, salt and black pepper and cook for about 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally (a little browning on the cabbage and onion is good). Then add water, mix well, and cook for another 15 minutes or until the liquid has evaporated and the cabbage is soft and slightly sweet. If you get some bits stuck to the bottom of the pan at the end, add about 1 tsp of white or apple cider vinegar to the pan and scrape the bits off with a wooden utensil.

Meanwhile, boil noodles in salted water (about 1 tbsp salt per 1lb of pasta) and cook according to to instructions on packaging. Once cooked, drain water and add noodles to the pan with cooked vegetables. Mix well and top with optional parsley.