Meet your new favorite charred cabbage recipe! We’ve given this winter vegetable the Gusti treatment with the umami sauce of our dreams. Blend together sweet, toasted Pizzuta almonds, salty savory anchovies from Testa Conserve in Catania, fresh extra virgin olive oil from Pianogrillo farm in Ragusa, deeply savory Vacche Rosse cheese from Reggio Emilia, and finally some fresh lemon zest and juice to brighten things up. Then, top everything off with Pantelleria capers deep fried in more extra virgin olive oil. Make sure your capers are nice and dry before frying, that way they’ll become extra crunchy!
Ingredients
TIME: 45 minutes
SERVES: 4-6
- Green cabbage, 1 medium head
- Extra virgin olive oil, 2 tbsp + 1/3 cup, plus more to fry the capers
- Salted capers, 2 tbsp
- Unpeeled pizzuta almonds, 1/3 cup
- Anchovies in extra virgin olive oil, 12 fillets
- Lemon zest and juice from 1 lemon
- Vacche Rosse cheese, 1/2 cup, finely grated
Preparation
- Preheat the oven to 425°F / 220°C. Remove the outer leaves from the cabbage and cut the head into eight wedges. Brush both sides of each wedge with the extra virgin olive oil. Arrange on a baking sheet and bake for 25 minutes or so, until charred in places.
- While the cabbage is cooking, rinse the salt off the capers and soak them in a small bowl of water for ten minutes. Drain, then spread on a paper towel to dry.
- Toast the almonds in a small, dry pan until golden, about 7 minutes. Allow to cool.
- To make the sauce, put the toasted, cooled almonds in a food processor along with the anchovy fillets and lemon zest. Pulse until the mixture resembles coarse sand. Add the grated Vacche Rosse cheese and 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice and pulse a few more times to combine. With the machine running, slowly add the 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil in a steady stream, until the sauce is creamy. Taste and add more lemon juice if needed.
- To fry the capers, heat an inch or so of extra virgin olive oil in a small, high-sided pan. Test the temperature of the oil with a caper – it should bubble up immediately. Fry the capers in batches for 30-45 seconds, until golden brown. Drain on paper towels.
- To assemble, spread a layer of the anchovy almond sauce on a serving plate and arrange the charred cabbage wedges on top. Drizzle with additional sauce, sprinkle with the fried capers, and serve.
