You'd be forgiven for writing off pasta and potatoes as the stuff of hard times. But with extras like caramelized cabbage and salty-fat bacon, this recipe makes for a tasty wintertime meal that oozes comfort.

"Adding potatoes to pasta is a technique you want to be incredulous about," said San Francisco chef Amaryll Schwertner. "But it's a pretty elegant combination"—not to mention a tried-and-true one (think pierogi). Here, al dente pasta, cloaked in sweet, wilted cabbage, is fortified with bits of russet potatoes. Shards of crumbly ricotta salata and slow-cooked bacon add extra texture.

This recipe has a personal connection to Ms. Schwertner. "It's a dish I know because I grew up eating it," said Ms. Schwertner, who immigrated with her family from Budapest to New York when she was 5 years old.

At her restaurant, Boulettes Larder, she makes a more elaborate version featuring house-made pasta. Here, store-bought noodles speed things up. The noodle should be flat, long and eggy. Ms. Schwertner prefers tagliatelle.

Though this recipe can be made with whatever potato you have on hand, fluffy and flaky russets work particularly well. They break down into pieces that thicken the dish much like an egg does in a carbonara. And then there's the bacon, which makes everything taste better. (Pancetta or guanciale are delicious upgrades.) The cabbage, however, roots this dish firmly in the Eastern European tradition.