Haluski (Polish Sweet Cabbage and Noodle)

For St. Patrick’s Day I made corned beef and cabbage and after the holiday I found myself with half a cabbage in my fridge and nothing to do with it.

I consulted (what may be becoming my all-time favorite cookbook) Mama’s Recipes: A Treasury of Hungarian-American Foods.  I knew that I’d find multiple cabbage recipes in there!

It is cold and snowy here in the Mid-Atlantic (anyone else have a delay or snow day today?) so it is just the perfect day for some good ol’ Pittsburgh comfort food: Haluski.

To be honest, I didn’t eat Haluski growing up. I believe the first time I had it was at a fire hall in Beaver County, PA. I was with my friend Jamie and her grandma, Nanny. It was a party or fundraiser of some sort and the ladies in the kitchen (church ladies!!!) were serving up a buttery, cheesy, noodley dish that I had never seen. What is this magical dish? I asked, and the answer was a word I had never heard. Hal-ooosh-kee. Who knew that cabbage and noodles could be so good?

This recipe is for, Haluska, the Hungarian version. Which is like the Polish or the Serbian version–the spelling is just different. And, as an aside, I did a quick little search and it seems like Haluski–at least what I’m talking about here–is a bit of a Pittsburgh/Western PA thing. But I could totally be wrong. Does anyone outside of the KDKA viewing area eat this?

Fantastic, right? But I wasn’t too keen on cooking with an entire 1/4 pound of butter, so I lightened up my version of Haluski considerably  Here’s my take on Polish Cabbage and Noodles:

Pittsburgh Haluski Light

• 3 oz. extra-wide whole wheat egg noodles (weight is dried) cooked
• 5 cups finely cut/shredded cabbage
• 1/2 cup sliced onion
• 1/4 cup butter †
• 1 packet stevia or other no-calorie sweetener
• 1/2 cup fat-free cottage cheese*
• salt (enough to toss with cabbage)
• black pepper
• non-stick cooking spray

Sprinkle the chopped cabbage with salt. Cook sliced onion in butter-flavored non-stick cooking spray until soft. Remove onion. In same pan, cook cabbage (water squeezed out) in the butter and sweetener for 10 minutes (more depending on how soft you want the cabbage to be). Stir in noodles, onion, and cottage cheese. Season with black pepper. Warm all ingredients through. Serve.

Makes 4 servings. 6 WW points per serving‡

The result is just as good as the real thing. I swear. So the next time you find yourself with some extra cabbage or noodles or cottage cheese, give this one a try. Or just do it any day–this dish is frugal!