← Nouns Cooking · French

Ingredients

• 1 large Savoy cabbage
• 600 g pork sausage meat
• 100 g smoked bacon, finely chopped
• 1 Onion, finely chopped
• 2 cloves Garlic, chopped
• 2 Eggs, beaten
• 50 g Breadcrumbs
• 1 handful Parsley, chopped
• 1 tsp thyme leaves
• 2 Carrot, sliced
• 1 onion, for the pot, sliced
• 1 Bay leaves
• 750 ml chicken or beef stock
• salt and black pepper

Method

1. Bring a very large pot of salted water to the boil. Lower in the whole cabbage and blanch for 8–10 min until the outer leaves are pliable. Drain upside down and cool.
2. Mix the sausage meat, bacon, chopped onion, garlic, eggs, breadcrumbs, parsley and thyme with plenty of pepper.
3. Lay a large piece of string or muslin in a bowl. Gently open the cabbage leaves out like petals without detaching them, cut out the small heart, chop it and mix it into the stuffing.
4. Spread stuffing between the layers, working from the centre outwards, then fold the leaves back up to re-form the cabbage. Tie it with string so it holds its shape.
5. Heat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan, 350°F). Put the carrots, sliced onion and bay in a casserole, sit the cabbage on top and pour in the stock. Cover and bake for 1¾ hours, basting a few times, until the centre reaches 71°C (160°F).
6. Lift out the cabbage, snip the string and cut into wedges. Serve with the vegetables and a ladle of the cooking juices.

Tips

• Leftover roast meat can replace some of the sausage meat, as many French families do.
• Use gluten-free breadcrumbs or cooked rice to make it gluten-free.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

Great British Chefs SBS Food