more cabbage... more pasta...

having had such success with the cabbage, thyme and mozzarella pasta dish i made last week to use up some of my excess cabbage purchase i decided to try another cabbage and pasta recipe and called on dennis cotter for inspiration.

this dish is a little more austere than the previous one and having made it twice, once with a pointed cabbage and once with a savoy cabbage, i think it’s important to use a cabbage with as much flavour as you can find (the pointed cabbage was not great, dennis calls for the use of an abyssinian cabbage but i’ve not managed to track that down yet) and don’t skimp on the chilli, sundried tomatoes, cheese and pine nuts, all of which add interest.

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pancetta, savoy and mozzarella linguine

three savoy cabbages... what’s a gal to do?

thankfully a friend of mine had one particularly lovely suggestion – add pancetta, pinenuts, pasta and, very excitingly, melting mozzarella. what a fab idea!

this recipe works really well – a hint of austerity and health from the cabbage (packed full of flavour as a result of it being savoy), mouth-watering moments courtesy of the pancetta and parmesan plus a rich soothing comfort and indulgence factor thanks to the soft, melting, oozing mozzarella. it’s quick and easy to pull together too.

the only downer is that it only uses ½ a cabbage...

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sausage and cavolo nero tortiglioni

fennel is a real favourite of mine – whether it be the fresh vegetable, which i am as happy to eat raw or cooked, or fennel seeds which i use to spice many different types of dishes – and it works particularly well with pork, especially sausages.

sausage and fennel is a classic combination for pasta dishes and i’m enjoying trying different variations. first it was angela hartnett’s orecchiette con salsiccia, finocchio e prezzemolol, next it’s going to be gordon ramsay’s sausage, fennel seed and tomato pappardelle, but this week i tried jamie oliver’s proper blokes' sausage fusilli.

this recipe is very different from angela hartnett’s dish which contains a lot of tomatoes which make a rich sauce. in jamie’s recipe there isn’t much of a sauce, just the juices which form as the sausages cook in a small amount of white wine. the flavour kick comes from the combination of fennel seeds, dried chillies and lemon zest plus the herbiness of oregano and parsley.

this is a really delicious dish and i like the cleanness of the taste. i added shredded cavolo nero and i think this really adds to the flavours and, of course, provides some much-needed vegetable content.

this is my contribution to this week’s presto pasta nights which is being hosted by a fellow african in the vanielje kitchen.

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stridently healthy: lentil and savoy cabbage soup

 

the miso soup which i have posted about recently fulfils a very specific need. it’s light, delicious and obviously healthy.

this lentil and savoy cabbage soup is similar except it screams healthiness and worthiness given its star ingredients are cabbage and lentils. this isn’t always a good thing – to make a huge generalisation, boys often need persuading of the virtues of this kind of food!

however, there are definitely days when i need to eat something that is going to make me feel a little bit saintly. whether it’s because i’ve been overindulging, need to be frugal or i just feel that my body needs a dose of healthiness.

the recipe is deceptively simple but tastes fabulous and ticks the saintly box. unless of course you grate over mounds of parmesan and eat it with fresh bread slathered in delicious french bridel butter. but even then it manages to retain an aura of austerity. deluded? moi? surely not…

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