This stuffed cabbage has a veal filling, and though it does require quite a bit of effort, it's well worth it if you like cabbage. In other words,a fine winter dish for cabbage lovers, and lovers of traditional recipes.
Prep Time: 1 hour
Cook Time: 2 hours
Total Time: 3 hours
Ingredients:
- A head of Savoy cabbage, weighing about 3 pounds (1.3 k)
- A pound and a quarter (550 g) ground veal
- A quarter pound (110 g) pancetta
- A 6-inch (15 cm) rib of celery
- A small carrot
- A small onion
- 1 cup (250 ml) frozen peas
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 1 3/4 cups (350 g) unsalted butter
- 4 slices day-old white bread
- 1 1/8 cups (275 ml) milk
- 1 1/2 cups (375 ml) tomato sauce
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 quarts (2 liters) broth (can also be unsalted bouillon)
- A bouquet garnis of mixed herbs to your taste
- Olive oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
Preparation:
Clean, wash, and pat dry the celery, carrot, and onion. Mince them with the pancetta.
Melt a half cup of the butter in a pan, add the minced vegetable mixture, and sauté it until the onion turns translucent. Add the ground veal and continue cooking, stirring, until it has browned. Season the mixture to taste, sprinkle it with a ladle full of hot water, and simmer it for about 45 minutes. Add the peas ten minutes before the time is up.
Melt the remaining butter in a second casserole, mix in the flour, stirring well to break up the lumps that form, and dilute the mixture with 3/4 cup of hot milk, added in a thin stream while stirring briskly. Season the béchamel sauce thus obtained to taste, and cook it over a low flame until it thickens (5 minutes, perhaps), stirring constantly.
Soak the bread in the remaining milk, crumble it, and stir it into the ragú. Stir in the béchamel sauce as well, and mix thoroughly. Clean the cabbage, remove the outer leaves if they're too tough, wash it carefully, and cook it in salted gently boiling water for about ten minutes.
Carefully drain the cabbage, reserving any leaves that may have come off.
Line a bowl large enough to hold the cabbage with a muslin cloth, put the cabbage into the bowl, and gently peel back the outer leaves to expose the heart. Using a paring knife, carefully cut out the heart, making sure not to separate the outer leaves from the stem. Squeeze the water from the cabbage heart, mince it, and stir it into the ragú. Meanwhile, bring the broth to a boil.
Place about 2/3 of the ragú in the center of the cabbage, trying to give it the form of the cabbage heart. Cover the filling with the leaves that came off the cabbage when you boiled it, and sprinkle the remaining filling over them. Return the outer leaves to their places, so the cabbage looks as it did before you began.
Wrap the cabbage in the cloth, tie the cloth shut, and gently immerse it in the simmering broth, along with the bouquet garnis. Simmer it, partially covered, for about an hour.
When the cabbage is almost ready, heat the olive oil in a small pot, with the garlic cloves. When they are lightly browned, add the tomato sauce and season the mixture to taste. Cook it for about fifteen minutes, remove it from the flames, stir in the minced spring onion, and transfer the sauce to a sauce boat.
Remove the cabbage from the broth, remove it from its bag, let it drain well, transfer it to a serving platter, and serve it with its sauce. A wine? I would be tempted by either a bright, brisk rosé, for example a Rossese di Dolce Acqua, or an aroamtic red along the lines of a Pelaverga di Verduno.
Melt a half cup of the butter in a pan, add the minced vegetable mixture, and sauté it until the onion turns translucent. Add the ground veal and continue cooking, stirring, until it has browned. Season the mixture to taste, sprinkle it with a ladle full of hot water, and simmer it for about 45 minutes. Add the peas ten minutes before the time is up.
Melt the remaining butter in a second casserole, mix in the flour, stirring well to break up the lumps that form, and dilute the mixture with 3/4 cup of hot milk, added in a thin stream while stirring briskly. Season the béchamel sauce thus obtained to taste, and cook it over a low flame until it thickens (5 minutes, perhaps), stirring constantly.
Soak the bread in the remaining milk, crumble it, and stir it into the ragú. Stir in the béchamel sauce as well, and mix thoroughly. Clean the cabbage, remove the outer leaves if they're too tough, wash it carefully, and cook it in salted gently boiling water for about ten minutes.
Carefully drain the cabbage, reserving any leaves that may have come off.
Line a bowl large enough to hold the cabbage with a muslin cloth, put the cabbage into the bowl, and gently peel back the outer leaves to expose the heart. Using a paring knife, carefully cut out the heart, making sure not to separate the outer leaves from the stem. Squeeze the water from the cabbage heart, mince it, and stir it into the ragú. Meanwhile, bring the broth to a boil.
Place about 2/3 of the ragú in the center of the cabbage, trying to give it the form of the cabbage heart. Cover the filling with the leaves that came off the cabbage when you boiled it, and sprinkle the remaining filling over them. Return the outer leaves to their places, so the cabbage looks as it did before you began.
Wrap the cabbage in the cloth, tie the cloth shut, and gently immerse it in the simmering broth, along with the bouquet garnis. Simmer it, partially covered, for about an hour.
When the cabbage is almost ready, heat the olive oil in a small pot, with the garlic cloves. When they are lightly browned, add the tomato sauce and season the mixture to taste. Cook it for about fifteen minutes, remove it from the flames, stir in the minced spring onion, and transfer the sauce to a sauce boat.
Remove the cabbage from the broth, remove it from its bag, let it drain well, transfer it to a serving platter, and serve it with its sauce. A wine? I would be tempted by either a bright, brisk rosé, for example a Rossese di Dolce Acqua, or an aroamtic red along the lines of a Pelaverga di Verduno.
