Deep Cavolo Nero soup

Remember the cavolo nero aka Tuscan kale I picked from the garden on Sunday, well I knew exactly what I wanted to make with it.
I have been hankering after this Zuppa di Castagne e Cavolo Nero, a deep dark chocolate looking soup that I saw on Barbara’s blog Dish'n' That a little while ago. I just didn’t have any nuggets of fresh chestnuts or even those cooked ones that are shrink wrapped, so I decided to substitute the fresh chestnuts with a tinned puree. But that wasn’t the only thing I changed, I adapted it a little more as I was cooking. I hope Barbara doesn’t mind.

The soup certainly had texture and depth of flavour, and if I had not made it myself from scratch I would have been suspicious that a meat stock had been used, as it had a ‘meaty’ taste and smell to it. This flavour is imparted by the chestnuts. The soup itself was rather delicious and certainly a meal in a bowl, and as Barbara suggested I served it with a hunk of good crusty bread. I am submitting this recipe to Grow your own (GYO), which celebrated it second birthday. It was started by Andrea Meyer of Andrea's Recipes. It is a twice-a-month blogging event that celebrates the foods we grow ourselves and the dishes we create using our homegrown products. GYO#40 is presently being hosted by Nate at House of Annie and he's invited us all to do it again. How can I resist such an offer, especially to show off the last of my homegrown black kale.

Cavolo nero, Chestnut and Butter Bean Soup
Serves 4 - 6
Ingredients
1 large onion, chopped
1 large carrot, chopped
3 stalks celery, peeled of stringy bits with a potato peeler, then chopped
4 garlic cloves, chopped
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 x 400g canned plum tomatoes in juice
1 ½ pints vegetable stock
1 x 435g canned unsweetened pureed chestnuts
1 x 400g can white beans, drained and rinsed
About 250g of Cavolo Nero, stems and ribs removed and leaves chopped into pieces
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons Tamari
Method
Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot and add the onion and garlic. Let sweat a bit, then add the carrot and celery. Saute for a few minutes, then add tinned tomatoes, the chopped kale, Tamari and seasoning and cook for a few minutes more before adding the vegetable stock. Let it simmer for about 30 minutes stirring occasionally, before adding in the pureed chestnuts and beans and simmer for a further 15 minutes. Transfer about ½ pint of the soup to a blender and process. Return to the pot; give it a stir. Add more seasoning if required and let simmer for a few minutes before serving.

Jerusalem artichoke and parsley risotto

There was once a time when I actually thought Jerusalem Artichokes came from a little place called Jerusalem, and that they were indeed an artichoke. It was only upon growing my own that I learned it was neither from Jerusalem or an artichoke, but actually a type of sunflower.
Like many seasonal home-cooks, I’ve been looking for inspiration on what to do with Jerusalem artichokes which of course are in season. This shouldn’t be that difficult to do, especially as it’s a versatile vegetable. Did you know that you can actually eat them whole knobbly root vegetable including its skin. They can also be eaten raw, added to salads with a little dressing. Or, they can be baked, steamed, stir fried or roasted. However, be careful not to overcook them, as they will turn to mush. You can mash them too but I would recommend half potatoes and half Jerusalem artichokes, otherwise the texture will be somewhat watery. In the past I’ve made Jerusalem artichoke and walnut parcel, crisps, gratin, stoved artichokes and even soup, so was looking for something different to do with them. I flicked through some of my cookbooks and came across variations of Jerusalem artichoke soup recipes, but soup is not what I wanted to make. Then I came across a risotto recipe in one of Denis Cotters cookbooks, without much thought I decided to go with. It was only when I started reading the cooking method that I realised this was not going to be a straightforward risotto recipe, where simple vegetable stock is ladled into the fattening. Making this particular risotto recipe involved a couple of processes. For example, here you have to about cook half the Jerusalem artichokes with some onion and garlic before adding vegetable stock. Then blitzed and sieved to create an intensely flavoured broth which is then used in place of the stock to make the risotto. Mmmm I don’t think I was going to follow the instructions word for word, especially the sieving part. I wasn’t going to be doing that just for D and me, maybe Greg Wallace and John Torode the judges of Masterchef U.K, but not for us, so I had decided that I was going to skip on some of these processes. The other half or the artichokes are roasted and added towards the end of the dish so that they look like oyster mushrooms.

Although cooking risotto in this manner added a little extra cooking time, it was actually worth the wait. The risotto was soft, creamy, deep and nutty in flavour. I also enjoyed this way of making the broth and thank Mr Cotter for introducing me to this method. I can see it working in other root vegetable risottos such as the carrot and parsley risotto that I’ve made in the past and perhaps even a parsnip risotto. MMm I think there is a little chef in me.

I am submitting this recipe into Weekend Herb Blogging#224. WHB is a weekly food blog event that showcases information and recipes about herbs, vegetables, fruits and other plant ingredients. WHB was initiated four years ago by Kalyn's Kitchen, it is now organized by Haalo of Cook (Almost) Anything At Least Once. This weeks host is Huan from Eat.Read.Live.

Jerusalem Artichoke and parsley risottoServes 2 - 3
Ingredients
6 Shallots, finely sliced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
Olive oil
1 ½ pints of vegetable stock
220g Arborio or Carnaroli rice
450g Jerusalem artichokes, peeled and sliced
4 – 6 tablespoons minced fresh Parsley
Salt and pepper to taste
Method
For the Jerusalem artichoke broth
In a large saucepan add a little olive oil and add 4 of the shallots and 2 garlic and cook until soft and tender, then add about 300g of thereabouts of the Jerusalem artichokes and cover and cook for about 5 minutes, then add vegetable stock, bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 20 minutes or so, or until the artichokes are soft. Remove the pan from the heat and blend the mixture to a puree. Return to a pot and keep warm on low heat.
For the roasted artichokes
Coat the remaining artichokes in olive oil and bake them in the oven at Gas mark 4 turning over at least once, until tender. When cooked. Turn oven down to keep warm until the risotto is ready.
For the risotto
Heat two tablespoons of olive oil in a wide pan and gently fry the remaining shallots and garlic for five minutes, than add the rice and toast of medium heat for a few minutes, stirring often until rice is well coated in oil. Now slowly begin to ladle in one or two of the warm Jerusalem artichoke broth. Let this simmer until it is all absorbed, stirring often, then add more broth. Continue this way, until the rice is tender. This should take about 20 – 25 minutes, before adding the last two ladles add the roasted Jerusalem artichokes, parsley and seasoning. Serve immediately on warm plates. Optional: To finish drizzle over some good olive oil or a scattering of vegetarian Parmesan or pecorino. Adapted from the wonderful Denis Cotters Wild Garlic, Gooseberries and me

Surprise Cabbage Pies

Be patient, you’ll see why in a moment
In an attempt to use up the remaining cabbage in the fridge, this recipe began as a version of the Russian kulibiaka (pronounced koo-leeb-yah-ka). Kulibiaka is a pastry pie traditionally made with cabbage, however this quickly morphed into the French adaptation of the coulibiac (pronounced koo-leeb-yahk) which includes rice, mushrooms, hard boiled eggs and salmon, but of course I wanted to make a relatively quick vegetarian alternative. So this is what we ended up with. I know, absolutely nothing like the real thing, but we enjoyed them. The subtle flavour of the cabbage came through with the parsley, and the surprise: simply a hard boiled egg.

These cabbage pastry pies were quite large, so I actually though that you don’t need very much else with it, but D my husband, demi-vegetarian by association had other ideas. Today he insisted that he wanted his served with some salmon. He had decided that he wanted his cabbage pie to be as close to a coulibiac as it could be. I let him be. I think it is good of him to be eating what I cook for him and without fuss I hasten to add, so I wasn’t going to make an issue of the accompaniment on his plate.

Surprise Cabbage Pies
Serves 2 greedy people or 4 with accompaniments
Ingredients
250g cabbage, thinly sliced
2 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, finely sliced
2 hard boiled eggs, kept whole or cut in half if making 4 portions
3 - 4 tablespoon fresh parsley, minced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
375g ready rolled puff pastry

Method
Heat oven to gas mark 6.Cook cabbage in boiling water until tender, drain and set aside. Heat the oil and cook the onion until soft, add the cabbage, stir well and cook for 6 minutes. Remove from the heat and add the parsley. Season well. Either cut out 2 round circles with the puff pastry, you may need to re-roll the pastry or use the ready rolled pastry as it is and spread the cooked cabbage, leaving about ½ inch for sealing. Then put in the egg, either half or whole, and then gently pull the pastry ends to pinch together to seal (look at image below), gently transfer onto a lightly greased baking sheet.

Bake in oven for 20 - 30 minutes until well risen and golden brown. Serve immediately. Please note these pies can be made either into individuals portions, or in a long loaf style.