Viv Moon's OUTDOOR & TRAVELLER'S eCOOKBOOK

Cabbage, Bacon & Noodles

Cabbage is a great vegetable to carry in your veggie box when camping. Leave it whole, and stored properly (in a cool, dark spot), it will keep for quite a long time and doesn’t need refrigeration. It’s also very versatile and you can make coleslaw, add to stir-fry, steam, boil and fry.

Here’s a great dish to make in your camp oven and which turns the humble cabbage into something more exciting and appealing. It’s easy to prepare, and cook. You just need to do a bit of chopping. It makes a good side dish to your main meal and is one everyone will enjoy.

When buying a cabbage look for one that has a solid, firm head and is hard to the touch. It should also be bright and shiny in colour, with crisp outer leaves.

Cabbage, Bacon & Noodles
Serves 4 to 6
Preparation time:  10 mins
Cooking time: 10 to 15 mins

You could easily reduce the quantity of ingredients to make this a dish for just 2. Any leftovers though can simply be reheated in your camp oven or on the stove top in a pan and eaten again.

Ingredients:
Oil/butter
1 small/med head of cabbage – shredded
8 rashers or more of bacon – more or less to taste (Ron likes MORE!!) - chopped
1 large onion – chopped
2 tspns garlic – crushed or minced
1 to 2 tspns red chilli – minced or used dried chilli flakes (maybe just 1 tspn) (omit if the kids don’t like chilli)
salt (to taste – give it a taste before you add the salt as the bacon will add a bit of salt)
Lots of black pepper (or to taste)
Egg noodles or fettuccini type pasta (uncooked) – 2 to 3 handfuls noodles; about 1/3 pkt of fettuccini (150gm approx.) – broken in half

Directions:
Your camp oven makes a great pot to make up this dish, or use a large pan on your stove top.

Heat just a little oil in your camp oven and
add the bacon. You won’t need much oil, as the bacon will release its fat. Stir over a med/hot heat until the bacon has browned a little then remove from the pan and drain on some paper towel and set aside.

While you are cooking the bacon and cabbage, you can cook the noodles as per the packet directions, until 'al dent' then drain and set aside.

If need be, add a little more oil/butter to the pan and then add the onion, along with the garlic and chilli, and sauté over a medium heat until the onion has softened.

Return the cooked bacon and add the cabbage to the onion/bacon and mix well over a med/high heat – stir occasionally until the cabbage has softened and browned a little and the texture is to your liking.

Lower the temperature if the cabbage is browning too much, especially if using the camp oven, which will retain its heat well.

Season well, especially with the black pepper.

When the cabbage mix is ready, add the hot cooked noodles (separating if need be) and stir well to combine all the ingredients.

Viv’s hint: You could turn this into a one-dish meal by adding some cooked meat such as sliced chicken or pork. You could also add some grated or thinly sliced carrot to the mix when frying the cabbage.