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ITALIAN RECIPES

Savoy Cabbage

Savoy Cabbage Minestrone

Ingredients:

4 1/2 pounds (2 k) Savoy cabbage
2/5 cup (100 ml) extravirgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic, peeled and left whole
1/4 pound (100 g) flat pancetta in a single slice (use a slice of lean prosciutto if need be), diced
A fresh hot pepper, seeded and chopped
6 slices day-old crusty bread
1/4 pound (100 g) freshly grated Pecorino Romano, about 2 cups
Salt to taste (go easy because of the cheese)

Preparation:

Strip off and discard any blemished outer cabbage leaves, and core the cabbages as well. Separate the leaves, rinse them under cold water, drain them, and chop them coarsely.
Heat the olive oil in a casserole and lightly brown the garlic and the diced pancetta. Add the cabbage and the hot pepper and mix well, seasoning lightly with salt.
Cover and simmer for an hour - the cabbage will give off quite a bit of liquid - adding a little warm broth if necessary.

Lightly toast the bread and distribute the slices in four soup bowls. Ladle the soup, which should be fairly liquid, over them, dust with grated cheese, and serve at once, with a white wine.
A Greco di Tufo might be nice.

Chestnut Pasta with Savoy Cabbage and Spare Ribs

Ingredients:

For The Sauce
A Savoy Cabbage
2/3 pound (300 g) spare ribs
2 tablespoons olive oil
A sprig of fresh rosemary
4-6 leaves fresh sage
A bay leaf
3/5 cup (150 ml) dry white wine
2 cups (500 ml) vegetable broth or bouillon
Salt and pepper to taste
For the Pasta
1 1/4 cups (150 g) chestnut flour
4/5 cup (100 g) all purpose unbleached flour
2 eggs
1 yolk
A pinch of salt

Preparation:

Core the cabbage and remove and discard any blemished outer leaves. Separate the remaining leaves, rinse them, and blanch them in a pot of lightly salted boiling water. Remove them to a cloth to drain and cool.
Heat the oil in a pot large enough to contain the cabbage leaves and add the sage, rosemary, and bay leaves.

When their aromas emerge, add the pork ribs and cook a few minutes, stirring them about so all sides brown lightly, and then add the wine and a little of the vegetable broth. Cover and simmer for about 40 minutes.

While the meat is simmering, cut the cabbage leaves into strips. Remove the spare ribs from the pot and replace them with the cabbage leaves, giving them a stir to coat them with the pan drippings.

Bone the ribs, discarding fat if you would rather a lighter dish, and dice the meat. Return it to the pot with the cabbage leaves and continue simmering, adding more broth as necessary to keep the cabbage from drying out.

If you are making the pasta from scratch, it is now time to do so:
Combine the two kinds of flour and make a mound of them on your work surface.
Scoop a well in the center of the mound, add a pinch of salt, and then the two eggs and the yolk. Work the mixture to obtain a dough, and knead it well, until it is smooth and elastic -- at least 10 minutes.

Put a towel over a chair back.
If you have a pasta machine, either hand-operated or electric, use it to make the fettuccine. If you do not, divide the dough into two pieces and roll the first out dime-thin (about 1 mm).

Cut it into thin strips and hang them over the towel to dry a little. Repeat the process with the second strip.
Bring a pot of water to a rolling boil and salt it. Cook the tagliatelle until they are barely al dente, 3-4 minutes at the most, drain them, and season them with the cabbage sauce.
Add a generous dusting of freshly ground pepper and serve at once, with a red wine, for example a Petit Rouge from the Valle D'Aosta, or a Bardolino from the Veneto.

Savoy Cabbage with Walnuts and Onions

Ingredients:

Savoy cabbage weighing about 2 1/4 pounds (1 k)
2 ounces (weight, 60 g) walnut meats, chopped
2 medium onions, peeled and finely sliced
1/4 cup (50 g) unsalted butter
2 tablespoons extravirgin olive oil
4/5 cup (200 ml) vegetable broth or bouillon
Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

Remove and discard the outer leaves of the cabbage if they're blemished, and core it. Separate the rest of the leaves, and rinse them under cold water.
Heat the butter and the olive oil in a pot large enough to contain the cabbage and add the onion. Cook, stirring, until the onion had become translucent golden, and then add the cabbage leaves. Season with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring, over a brisk flame for 5 minutes.

Lower the flame, stir in the walnut meats, and continue cooking for about 10 more minutes.
Add the broth and cook for 15 minutes more, stirring often, or until the liquid is completely absorbed. Check seasoning and serve, with a white wine along the lines of an Arneis.

Savoy Cabbage Rollups Stuffed with Duck Breast

Ingredients:

16 Savoy cabbage leaves, washed well, drained and patted dry
3/4 pound (350 g) boned duck, ideally skinned breast, diced
5 tablespoons olive oil
An onion, peeled and finely chopped
A small bunch fresh sage
2/5 cup dry white wine
3 tablespoons tomato sauce
Salt and pepper to taste
Butcher's twine

Preparation:

Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a saucepan. When it begins to shimmer add the onion and cook until it turns golden translucent.
Add the diced duck, and season the mixture to taste. Add several leaves of sage, followed by the wine, and simmer uncovered until the wine is absorbed, about 20 minutes, mixing often.

Carefully flatten the cabbage leaves on your work surface. Put some of the duck on each leaf, roll the involtini up, and tie them with the butcher's twine.
Heat the remaining oil in a broad skillet, and carefully arrange the involtini over the oil. Season to taste, add the tomato sauce, and cook another 20 minutes over a low flame, turning the involtini gently a few times.

Should a little more water prove necessary, add it. And in any case, serve the involtini with a lively red, for example a Sangiovese di Romagna.

Buon appetito!

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