I have a deep love of cabbage and will make these parcels as either the star of the show served with rice or as a side dish for a Sunday lunch feast. Pork, apple and cabbage are a classic trio because the sweet, salty, bitter flavours combine to make a perfectly balanced dish. However you choose to serve these tasty parcels you get a deliciously sweet pork filling wrapped in soft, salty cabbage.
INGREDIENTS
Serves 2 Adults & 2 Kids
1 head of savoy cabbage
2 shallots
2 garlic cloves
2 apples
30g breadcrumbs
2 thick pork sausages
4 sage leaves
1 lemon
1/2 tsp salt
- Pre-heat the oven to 195° (175° Fan). Remove the large outer leave from the savoy cabbage and cut away the woody stem then wash. Put the leaves into a large pan of boiling salted water, cook for 4 minutes then remove and plunge into ice water to stop the cooking. Finely chop the smaller, lighter inner leaves until you have about 150g and set aside to use in the filling.
- Peel and core the apple then cut into small cubes. Peel and finely dice the shallots and garlic. Put 1 tsp of olive oil in a medium frying pan on a medium heat then squeeze the sausage meat out of the skins into the pan, use a spoon to break up the meat and fry until golden. Add the apple, shallots and garlic to the pan and cook for a couple of minutes until fragrant. Add the breadcrumbs and chopped sage, then stir in the shredded cabbage, sprinkle over 1/2 tsp of salt squeeze in the juice of a lemon and cook for a few minutes. Set aside the mixture until you’re ready to assemble the parcels.
- Oil 6 wells in a sturdy muffin tin then line each well with the large, blanched cabbage leaves. Divide the sausage/apple mix between the 6 parcels then fold the edges of the leaves over the parcels to make a ball. Cover with tin foil then put into the oven, on a middle shelf below for 20 minutes.
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