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Cabbage Pasta with Bacon and Mustard

Cabbage pasta is given a great umami punch with smoked bacon, wrapped in a silky but light sour cream and mustard sauce, simple and delicious!

The preparation of this simple pasta dish takes around 20 minutes making it perfect for a quick midweek dinner.

Creamy savoy cabbage pasta with crispy bacon and sour cream.

Creamy Cabbage and Bacon Tagliatelle

The creamy cabbage and bacon pasta recipe follows hot on the heels of my sage and onion chicken pasta. Both recipes take classic British flavours and combines them with pasta!

It is a really simple dish that is easy to cook, tastes fantastic and is really rather frugal. Just like my bacon and asparagus pasta recipe, a little bit of bacon goes a long way in this recipe.

It gets a creamy sauce of made with sour cream flavoured with wholegrain mustard, thyme and black pepper.

It shares similarities with Slovak haluski an Polish lazanki.

Although haluski would originally have used pasta that is much closer to the nokedli that I serve with my chicken paprikash.

Overhead creamy savoy cabbage pasta with crispy bacon and sour cream.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use other types of pasta?

Yes, this dish lends itself to fairly broad wide and long pasta. As a result, I usually cook it with tagliatelle, pappardelle or fettuccini.

But it would also work well with flat short pasta like farfalle and even conchiglie. It is less good with pasta shapes like penne and fusilli.

What is streaky bacon?

A question often asked by my US visitors. Streaky bacon is what you guys call bacon, here in the UK back bacon or Canadian bacon as you call it is the norm.

Can I use regular cream?

Yes, double or heavy cream works really well, although the dish will have less of a “tart” flavour.

Why should I cook the pasta for less time than it says on the packet?

We are going to be finishing the pasta in the sauce, and as a result, the pasta will need less time than the packet says. Pasta packet instructions also tend to overcook pasta for my liking.

Does pasta water really need that much salt?

Definitely! Pasta needs a lot of salt in the cooking water, remember that you will not be eating it all! Most of it will stay in the water and what little water we use should be enough to season the dish.

Close up creamy savoy cabbage pasta with crispy bacon and sour cream.

Serving Suggestions

A bowl of pasta is a meal as far as I am concerned and this cabbage and bacon pasta recipe is no different for me.

However, there is always a wee bit of sauce left in the bottom of the bowl and mopping that up with a bit of bread is a must.

I usually heat up a little bit of ciabatta or focaccia in the oven and drizzle it with a bit of olive oil and call it done.

Don’t worry about leftover cabbage, I have plenty of recipes to help out there.

Just type cabbage into the search bar at the top of the page, but a couple of options are my cabbage and white bean soup or simple buttered cabbage.

Creamy savoy cabbage pasta with crispy bacon, sour cream and mustard.

Equipment Used

I only mention specific brands of equipment if I think they make a material difference to a recipe. If you have any questions feel free to ask them in the comments section below the recipe.

  • Stovetop.
  • 30cm or 12″ frying pan, not nonstick if possible.
  • 20cm or 8″ saucepan.
  • Mixing bowl.
  • Chopping board.
  • Kitchen knife.
  • Weighing scales and or measuring cups and spoons.
  • Sieve or colander.
  • Stirring and serving implements.
Creamy savoy cabbage pasta with crispy bacon, sour cream and mustard.
Yield: 2 Servings

Creamy Cabbage Pasta Recipe with Bacon and Mustard

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes

Simple northern European flavours star in this delicious and quick creamy bacon and cabbage pasta recipe.

Ingredients

  • 175g (6oz) Tagliatelle Pasta
  • 150g (6-7 Rashers) Smoked Streaky Bacon
  • 200g (6-8 Outer Cabbage Leaves) Savoy Cabbage Leaves
  • 100g (⅓ Cup) Sour Cream
  • 1 Tbsp Wholegrain Mustard
  • 1 Tsp Fresh Thyme Leaves
  • ½ Tsp Black Pepper
  • Salt for Boiling Pasta (1½ teaspoons for a pan the size specified)

Instructions

  1. Bring a 20cm or 8" pan of well-salted water to a boil.
  2. Heat a 30cm or 12" frying pan (not nonstick if possible) over a medium heat, and when it is hot add the bacon rashers and cook until crispy (10 minutes), flipping over halfway through.
  3. Mix together the soured cream, mustard, thyme and black pepper in a small bowl.
  4. When the water is boiling add the cabbage leaves and blanch for 2 minutes, then remove and transfer to a bowl of cold water. Do not throw away the water we are going to use it!
  5. Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook for 1 minute less than the instruction on the packet.
  6. Remove the bacon keeping the fat in the pan, the bacon will crisp up more as it cools a little.
  7. Cut the tough centre vein from the cabbage leaves, then shred them and add it to the bacon fat over a medium heat, and toss for a minute or two.
  8. Remove around 50ml (3 Tbsp) of water from the pasta pan and add it to the cabbage along with the sour cream mix, stir until combined.
  9. By now the pasta should be ready to drain, reserve some more of the cooking liquid (around 75ml or 1/3 cup). Make sure you scrape off any bacon bits from the bottom of the pan.
  10. Stir in the pasta adding as much more pasta cooking water as is needed to form a nice creamy sauce.
  11. Crumble the crispy bacon into the dish (reserving a little for garnish), have a taste and add more salt if required (it should not be), then serve immediately.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

2

Serving Size:

1

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 595Total Fat: 37gSaturated Fat: 14gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 20gCholesterol: 133mgSodium: 1392mgCarbohydrates: 32gFiber: 3gSugar: 2gProtein: 33g

Calorific details are provided by a third-party application and are to be used as indicative figures only.

Did you make this recipe?

If you made this recipe, I'd love to see what you did and what I can do better, share a picture with me on Instagram and tag me @krumplibrian and tell me how it went!

Gina Strauch

Sunday 14th of August 2022

Made this last night, substituting chard for the cabbage because that is what I had. Thumbs up from my dinner guest, who asked for the recipe. I think the sauce would also make a quick-and-easy take on rabbit in mustard sauce when I'm not up to cooking "lapin a la moutarde".

Brian Jones

Thursday 18th of August 2022

Awesome, I can imaging chard working really well in this recipe, that earthy and almost sour edge would be superb with the bacon. Nice idea on reframing the sauce for rabbit too!

Kim

Thursday 14th of July 2022

Anyone tried this with cream not sour cream?

Brian Jones

Thursday 14th of July 2022

This recipe started out using cream when I was developing it, it works "ok", but I prefer the slightly more tart edge that you get from sour cream. But you can sub in regular cream, but be sure to use a fairly high fat content to prevent the cream from splitting :)

Enjoy

Annie @ Annie's Noms

Monday 14th of October 2019

I am always here for quick pasta dishes during the week! Loving this flavour combo, it looks delicious!

Brian Jones

Wednesday 16th of October 2019

Thanks Annie, enjoy!

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