“Bring me broccoli plants,” I told my sometimes-gardener. But, when I went out to the huerta (kitchen garden), I found a row of baby cabbage plants instead of broccoli. “That’s all there were,” he said. Cabbage is a vegetable I like, sure, but I rarely eat more than a couple heads of it in a season. This is going to be the Year of the Cabbage.
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| Cabbages in the garden. |
So far, it’s turning out to be a season of good fortune. The small cabbages are sweet and crisp, a delight in coleslaw and stir-fries. Plain, “boiled” cabbage makes an easy side dish, seasoned with a refrito of olive oil, garlic, pimentón (paprika) and a dash of vinegar. Yet to come, my version of stuffed cabbage (see link to that recipe below).
Today I’m making a cabbage-potato gratin dish. It makes a terrific side with pan-grilled sausages or baked spareribs. But it would also serve as a vegetarian main dish with salad and good bread as an accompaniment.
Cabbage in Spanish has a redundancy of nomenclature: col, repollo and berza are all names for the same type of cabbage with green outer leaves and pale, almost white inner ones. (Confusingly, “berza” is the name of an Andalusian potaje, as in berza de acelgas, that contains green vegetables such as chard, but no cabbage.) Col de Milán is crinkly green Savoy cabbage. Lombarda is red cabbage.
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| Under a crunchy gratin of cheese and breadcrumbs, layers of potatoes and cabbage. |
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| Baked cabbage stays juicy. |
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| Cabbage gratin could be a vegetarian main dish-- |
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| or a side dish with baked spareribs. |
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| As a side, the cabbage is good with ribs, sausages, chops. |
Cabbage and Potato Gratin
Gratinado de Coles con Patatas
Gratinado de Coles con Patatas
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| Remove core from cabbage. |
Serves 6.
1 ½ pounds potatoes (5 medium)
1 ¾ pounds cabbage (1 small)
5 tablespoons olive oil
3 cloves chopped garlic
1/8 teaspoon cumin seeds (optional)
2/3 cup white wine
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
4 ounces cheese, grated (1 ½ cups)
1 cup fresh bread crumbs
Pimentón (paprika), preferably smoked
1 ¾ pounds cabbage (1 small)
5 tablespoons olive oil
3 cloves chopped garlic
1/8 teaspoon cumin seeds (optional)
2/3 cup white wine
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
4 ounces cheese, grated (1 ½ cups)
1 cup fresh bread crumbs
Pimentón (paprika), preferably smoked
Cook the potatoes in boiling water until they are just tender when pierced with a skewer. Drain. When cool enough to handle, peel the potatoes and slice them 3/8 inch thick.
Discard outer leaves from the cabbage. Cut it in quarters and cut out and discard the core. Slice the cabbage crosswise.
Heat 3 tablespoons of the oil in a deep skillet. Add the garlic and cumin seeds, if using. When garlic begins to turn golden, add the cabbage. Sauté until it begins to wilt and lose volume. Add the wine. Raise the heat until liquid boils. Season the cabbage with salt and pepper. Reduce heat and cover the pan. Cook gently until tender, about 10 minutes. Remove cover and cook off most of remaining liquid, if necessary.
Preheat oven to 350ºF.
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| Layer potatoes and cabbage, top with cheese and crumbs. |
Generously oil a cazuela or glass baking dish. Put a layer of sliced potatoes in the bottom. Sprinkle them with salt and pepper. Cover the layer of potatoes with all of the cabbage.
Sprinkle half of the grated cheese on top. Layer the remaining potato slices over the cabbage and cheese. Cover with remaining cheese. Top with bread crumbs. Sprinkle with pimentón. Drizzle 1 tablespoon oil over the top.
Cover the top of the cazuela with foil. Bake until the potatoes and cabbage are bubbling, about 25 minutes.
Raise oven temperature to 400ºF. Remove foil from the baking dish. If oven has an upper heating element for gratin, place the dish under it. Bake until the top is browned, 5 minutes. Serve the gratin hot.
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| Gratin is best hot out of the oven. |
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| Spareribs are rubbed with adobo spices and marinated 24 hours before roasting in the oven. Top them with a picada of chopped raw garlic and parsley. (Link to recipe for spareribs is below.) |
More recipes with cabbage:
Related recipes:
That looks fantastic! I don't often buy cabbage, because I'd probably only eat part of it, but I do love trinxat, so perhaps I should have a week of recipes that include cabbage and try yours above.
ReplyDeleteMad Dog: Same here--one cabbage usually lasts so long. But with a dozen of them in the garden, I am being creative in ways to use them.
DeleteCabbage and black-eye peas are good luck foods for the New Year in New Orleans so the timing is right for cabbage! Elaine
ReplyDeleteElaine: I should have lots of luck this year--more cabbage today!
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