Depending on where you’re from, Frank Dining Hall’s periodic pierogi days may be the closest you’ve gotten to real Eastern European food. And that’s a shame. Because it’s safe to say that no one (except for maybe the American South) does comfort food quite as well as Eastern Europe. As a cuisine, it’s simple, rich and carb-y, so it’s well-suited to helping you fight off a stubborn Hamilton winter. This week we’ll teach how how to make Hungarian galuska, an ideal recipe to fix this gap in your culinary knowledge.

One of the hallmarks of Eastern European food, and the only semi-unusual component of this dish, is “kielbasa” sausage, which is as close to real Hungarian csabai kolb??sz as you’re going to get at Price Chopper. It’s slightly smoky and spicy, and sort of like the best hotdog there ever was. It’s a perfect complement to the subtle sweetness of the galuska, but you could substitute just about any sausage you like. Maybe not hotdogs though.

Kielbasa aside, galuska really could not be any simpler. It contains exactly two key ingredients: egg noodles and cabbage, both of which you can get at Price Chopper for under two dollars. It’s cheap, simple, filling and versatile (without the kielbasa, it would be a perfect side dish for pork chops with apple sauce or roasted chicken). But most importantly, it’s a delicious dish with two ingredients that are hard to mess up, which we all know is a college student’s dream come true.

Serves: 3-4

Ingredients:

1 head of cabbage

1/2 package of wide egg noodles

1 14 oz package of kielbasa (or a different sausage, but we highly recommend keilbasa)

2 Tbsp butter (or olive oil if you prefer)

1/2 tsp salt

Pepper

Process:

1. Cut the hard core out of your cabbage, and then cut it in half.

2. Slice the cabbage into strips about ?- to ?-inch wide (it doesn’t have to be precise).

3. Melt two tablespoons of butter in the bottom of a large pot over medium heat, and then add

the cabbage, salt and a few grinds of pepper. Give it a stir to distribute the butter and seasoning.

4. Turn the heat down to medium low and cover the pot.

5. Cook until the cabbage is tender and golden brown, stirring every ten minutes or so.

This will take a while (at least half an hour to 45 minutes), but your patience will be rewarded.

6. Fill another pot with water and bring it to a boil while the cabbage is cooking.

7. When you have declared the cabbage pretty much done, add your egg noodles to the boiling water.

8. Start cooking your kielbasa in a large frying pan. When it’s firm and beginning to

brown, you can slice it into 1/2- to 3/4-inch disks and then reintroduce them to the pan

for additional browning.

9. After the egg noodles are cooked, strain them and then combine the noodles with the cabbage.

10. Remove the galuska from the heat, and taste to see if you need more salt and pepper.

11.  Serve with the kielbasa.

Bonus Points:

Like most Hungarian food, this dish goes well with sauerkraut. If you brown some in a pan with butter or oil, it will be delicious with your galuska.

You can also put a twist on the classic by adding a sliced onion in with the cabbage or, if you’re feeling especially unorthodox, substituting the cabbage for bok choi. In either case, the cooking method remains the same, so it’s an easy way to add variety without adding much to the complexity or to the cost of the dish!