Rosemary Halusky with Cabbage and Broccoli Rabe


I'm not quite sure what I think of this dish. The halusky are the best I've ever made, namely because I used potatoes for the first time. Duh! Also, the rosemary added a nice flavor and made the halusky seem like something special rather than just filler dough balls. Whereas my taste tester liked the broccoli rabe and said it "punched through the cabbage and dumplings," I thought it was a tad too bitter. The next time I make halusky, I'll use a different green (mustard, kale?), although I don't know which one. You can't really see it in the picture, but the dish came out much more attractive and interesting than traditional halusky with cabbage. Not only does the broccoli add color, I added some parsley to the halusky which give them green flecks and break up the white.

Here's the recipe I used. It's a modified version of a basic halusky recipe from the "Dobra Cookbook" I mentioned in the previous post.

2 medium potatoes
1 egg
salt
2 cups flour
1 cabbage
1 large bunch of broccoli rabe (aka broccolini)
1 Tblsp butter
1 Tblsp olive oil
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup olive oil
1 medium onion
1 Tblsp dried rosemary squeezed by my fingers into small bits
1 Tblsp dried parsley
1 tsp white pepper

Peel and grate potatoes and then pulverize in a food processor until they look like hummus. Add salt, egg, flour, rosemary, parsley and white pepper. Mix until the dough holds together but is still very sticky and doesn't hold its shape. It should not be like bread dough. Because it's moist and sticky, it will make for moist halusky. I used a halusky maker my mother lent me to drop the halusky quickly into a pot of boiling water to which I had added some vegetable oil to keep the halusky from sticking together. Boil halusky for about 10 minutes; drain in a colander and rinse with cold water and return to pot. Brown 1 Tblsp butter and 1 Tblsp olive oil in a pan and then pour over the halusky. Chop onion and brown in 1/4 cup of olive oil and 1/4 cup of butter. Chop the cabbage finely and add to the onion. Also, remove the leaves from the broccoli rabe and set aside. Add the crowns and thick stems to the cabbage and onion mix. Fry the onion, cabbage and broccoli stem and crown mix slowly, covered, about 15 minutes. Add the broccoli rabe leaves and saute for another few minutes until they are wilted but not mush. Add dumplings, season with salt and pepper to taste, mix well.

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