FLOWER POT KITCHEN: STUFFED CABBAGE LASAGNA

13 Aug 2022

STUFFED CABBAGE LASAGNA

WoW what a treasure of a dish, this is up there with a traditional lasagna but with lower fat and carbohydrates and no comprise on flavour so that makes this a winner dinner all round

I could kick myself! I have often been inspired with the thought of making a stuffed cabbage dish but then that thought flutters away in a busy family life and like many I have a set of family favourite recipes as my go to which put trying this recipe further on the back bench!

This is now a firm family favourite that is on the weekly recipe selection, in fact it will be the third time this week!

Prep time 30 + minutes / Cooking time 40 minutes in the oven

Ingredients

(serves 4-6)

1 pointed sweetheart or greyhound cabbage

1 good glug olive oil

1 Spanish onion finely chopped

4 cloves garlic finely chopped

1 kg chuck steak minced

2 tins chopped tomatoes

2 tbsp tomato puree

1 fresh chilli finely chopped

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp dried oregano

2-3 tbsp fresh chopped dill

1 lemon zest and juice

1 cup basmati rice

600 ml crème fraiche

400g grated mozzarella

100g grated Gruyère

50g Parmesan grated

1 knob butter

Sea salt

Fresh ground black pepper

Parsley to finish

Multitasking to the Max Time and Motion…

Cook the rice, ragu sauce and blanch the cabbage all at the same time will speed the preparation time. Pre heat your oven to 180 C / 355 F.

The Rice

Wash the rice, place in a pan with 2 cups of water and the lemon zest, bring to a simmer, turn to a low simmer with a lid on and leave to cook for 8 minutes, take of the heat and leave to one side, DO NOT TAKE THE LID OFF for 10 minutes, then add the lemon juice and 2 tbsp of the chopped dill and fork through.

The Ragu Sauce

Meanwhile place the olive oil, onion and garlic in a deep pan and soften for 10 minutes keeping the onions translucent, add the tomato paste and cook out for 3 minutes. Turn up the heat, add the steak mince, stir through the onions and garlic mix and let the bottom of the mince brown off crispy to add more flavour, add cinnamon and the tomatoes, bring to a gentle simmer, add the chilli, oregano and season with salt and pepper to taste.

The Cabbage

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add a pinch of salt. Peel the cabbage leaves off trying to keep them whole, cut the base rib of the thick stem out of the leaves in a V cut. Place the leaves in batches in the boiling water for 30 seconds then drain

Crème Fraiche

Mix the crème fraiche with the mozzarella and Gruyère, season with salt and pepper.

To Assemble

Butter a deep roasting tray, place a layer of cabbage, then a layer of ragu, then another layer of cabbage, then half the rice,another layer of cabbage then half the crème fraiche, if you love dill sprinkle a little on the ragu layers, repeat, finish of with the Parmesan. Cover the tray with parchment and foil and bake for 20 minutes, remove the foil and bake for a further 15-20 minutes until golden brown and bubbling. Sprinkle over parsley. Enjoy.

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LIFE MY PASSION

Welcome to my daily life of cooking, one winters day many years ago my family and I were all inspired by a back to back rainy day of River Cottage this got us to stop talking about and start actually doing, suddenly three weeks later eight vegetable beds were dug, greenhouse erected and our first vegetables were propagating, this was the start to raising and growing our own food, our fabulous son Oscar changed our path in life which lead us to sell our small thriving restaurant of 10 yrs and to start our new life (Terrifying!) a life of the self sufficient in touch with nature and seasons, taking a step back and looking forward to a slower change of pace and making the most of every moment.

My passion for cooking was stronger than ever and having time at home with Oscar I found I had a new direction and I was no longer striving for perfection, I was suddenly very passionate for the enjoyment of the other side of food, something I had not realised, being the Chef/Cook and every other duty of your own small restaurant made me see that I never actually took time to cook what I wanted!

So there I was muddy boots and hands digging deep in more than one sense and I found myself transported back in time to where everyone grew some of their own food, it is a wonderful world with a real sense of achievement and loss, Slugs Snails and Caterpillars! But thats another story! Childhood memories of summers when I lived with my grand parents reminded me of so much that I had learnt about the make do and mend generation that I had forgotten.

Now as a family we love our free wild food days where we gather what nature has provided, have gone from being mini mini garden urban small holders, who did raised pigs at home because we could not wait to find land and supporting ourselves from our garden to now owning a very small farm that allows us to grow more vegetables for the whole of our family and neighbours, raise our own gorgeous Gloucestershire Old Spot pigs, (Sausages!) and pets! Dorset Down sheep, chickens for eggs and pet goats! Suddenly having large quantities of produce started to wake up the Cook in me!

The Cook was awake that part of me that wants to cook for the masses and I found myself setting up Flowerpot Kitchen, a Farmers Market Stall, I wanted to use our honest raised meats and make old fashioned pork pies, rabbit pies and game pies from the local game keeper along with old fashioned techniques and the best hot water crust pastry. This in turn grew to a small cottage industry from home weekly supplying three farm shops and a deli along with also attending three farmers markets A few years later there came a time when my son Oscar's health changed and it was an easy decision to stop.

I still hold the occasional pop up 40 seater restaurant or gourmet lunch which we do for local charities for the love of sharing food and to remind that Cook in me why I love our go slower self sufficient life!

So here I am sitting amoung the vegetables watching the chickens loving that every season nature teaches me something new and that nature is in charge! She has taught me to just go with it and grow. Give it a try from a tray of salad on your windowsill to a few tomato plants it all counts.