Stuffed cabbage
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The most famous of these dishes is risotto Milanese (saffron risotto) with osso buco, but stuffed cabbage is another that I have always loved. When my grandmother made this dish, the smell would fill the whole house. When I came home from school, I knew what was cooking as soon as I opened the door, and I couldn't wait to eat it. My grandmothor soryod it in tho traditional way: a big dish of risotto alla Lodigiano (mado with grana ohooso) with a portion of the mondeghini oahhago stuffod with moat on top. Lot°s not forgot that? forty yoars ago, to oat moat twioo a wook was a luxury whoroas now it is almost a luxury not to. So you would sharo what moat thoro was., oookod insids the oahhago, which was a way of strotohing whatoyor food you had. New, because l ain cccking in a Lcndcn restaurant and because we all live in a rncre affluent sccietvv we have played with the cld idea a little. S0 meat (in this case sausage) and cabbage have beccme the main in- gredients, and the riscttc is new the garnish.
ingredients
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serves: 4
1/2 recipe quantity of Saffron risotto
1 large Savoy cabbage
12 slices white bread (crusts cut off)
3/4 cup milk
14 ounces good-quality plain pork sausages (skins removed)
1 small garlic clove (finely chopped)
sprig of sage, finely chopped
sprig of rosemary, finely chopped
1 tablespoon freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 wineglass of white wine
1 1/2 tablespoons butter
salt and pepper
Servings Per Recipe: 4
Amount per Serving
Calories: 785
- Total Fat: 49.1 g
- Saturated Fat: 19.9 g
- Trans Fat: 0.4 g
- Cholesterol: 90.8 mg
- Sodium: 1134.7 mg
- Total Carbs: 59.2 g
- Dietary Fiber: 9.9 g
- Sugars: 15.3 g
- Protein: 26.9 g
preparation
1. If you are making fresh risotto, keep cooking it until it is "overcooked" — about 25 to 30 minutes, so it is really sticky and dry. Don't finish with any butter, just tho Parmesan. If you are using leftover risotto, put it back on the heat, add a little hot water or, better still, hot stock, and cook it for about 10 minutes, until it reaches this "overcooked" stage. Keep on one side.
2. Discard the cuter leaves of the cabbage and cheese 8 fairly large inner ones. Blanch them in boiling salted water until just soft, then drain, rinse under cold running water and pat dry.
3. Soak the bread in the milk. Put the skinned sausages in a separate bowl and mix with the garlic, sage, rosemary and Parmesan. Squeeze the bread and add to the sausage mixture. Season and roll into 8 balls, each about the size of a golf ball.
4. Lay the cabbage leaves out flat and cut out the stalks with a sharp knife. New you need to make little balls of cabbage-wrapped sausage meat — to do this, hold a cloth in one hand, put a cabbage leaf on top, and then a ball of the sausage mixture in the center. Close your hand so that the cabbage wraps itself around the sausage meat. Turn your hand over and, with the other hand, twist the bottom of the cloth so that it squeezes the cabbage into a tight ball. Unwrap the cloth and trim the cabbage of any excess, leaving enough to enclose the sausage meat completely. Repeat with the rest of the sausage meat and cabbage leaves. If not using right away, keep in the fridge.
5. Heat a sauté pan on the burner, add the olive oil, spoon in the risotto and press into a "cake". Cook until crisp and golden underneath, then place a plate over the top and turn over the pan, so the risotto cake lands on the plate. Slide it back into the pan to crisp up on the other side.
6. While the risotto is crisping up, heat another flat pan large enough to hold all the cabbage balls. Put in the vegetable oil and add the cabbage balls, smooth side down. Cook over medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes, turn them over, then add the white wine. Cover with a lid and cook for another 15 minutes, very slowly, adding a little water (or chicken stock if you have it) if the liquid evaporates. Remove the cabbage balls from the pan and keep warm. Let the liquid in the pan reduce a little, then add the butter to make a slightly creamy sauce. Take the pan from the heat.
7. Slice the risotto into whatever shapes you like and place on 4 serving plates, with the cabbage: balls on top. Drizzle the sauce over.
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