I had to be away in London for a couple of days doing some other work, so catching up on veg box cooking today. The last leafy item to use up looked like a cabbage-type-thing (it wasn't until it was cooking that it was identified as a red sprout top) so I was looking for a generic cabbage-pleasing recipe. I know anchovies work really well with broccoli so I looked around for some inspiration on this theme; I ended up improvising using this idea as a reference. I had no idea this would turn out so tasty so didn't thin k to take any photos until it was too late!!
Ingredients:
From the veg box: a head of cabbage, a few potatoes
From the cupboard: a tin of anchovies, several cloves of garlic (peeled but left whole), butter, olive oil, black pepper, lemon juice, feta cheese, handful of parsley, a pinch of chilli (optional)
How to:
Wash carefully, then shred the cabbage, and pile into a pan with a tight fitting lid. Scrub the potatoes and cut into cubes. Add the anchovies, the whole garlic cloves and the potato pieces to the pan, generously dot with butter. (I like adding some olive oil too to stop the butter from burning). Season with black pepper, and perhaps a pinch of chilli (check for salt later, as the anchovies are very salty), adding a tiny bit of water just to stop things sticking (you absolutely do not want to boil the cabbage). Close the lid and let it 'just about' simmer until your cabbage is tender (for 40-50 mins, depending on type of cabbage). Stir everything through maybe once, but avoid opening the pan too often to keep the steam in. If the pan gets too dry add a little bit of water and oil - you don't want anything to stick to the bottom.
When the cabbage is done and the anchovies have melted into the buttery cabbage juices stir through a good squeeze of lemon juice, some crumbled feta and a handful of chopped parsley. Serve with crusty bread, or perhaps brown rice, or even couscous. I know I will be making this again!