Rick Stein's : Valle d'Aosta Cabbage Soup

Today I share a recipe suggestion which comes from Valle d'Aosta which is in north-western Italy. A dramatic glacial valley overlooked by the Matterhorn and Mont Blanc. The region offers good skiing and hiking, Roman ruins in the town of Aosta, vernacular architecture and some impressive medieval and Renaissance castles.

The recipe is from Rick Stein and he says "a soul-warming dish from the Italian mountains, this chunky baked cabbage soup is an indulgent affair with crunchy bacon and velvety cheese in each spoonful."

Ingredients

Serves 4/5

300g/10½oz Gruyère, emmental or gouda cheese, grated or thinly sliced
60g/2¼oz Parmesan, grated
1.5 litres/2¾ pints good-quality chicken, beef or vegetable stock
500g/1lb 2oz Savoy cabbage, chopped
70ml/2½fl oz olive oil
6 rashers streaky smoked bacon, chopped
30g/1oz butter
1 large garlic clove, cut in half
5–6 thick slices (about 250–280g/9oz–10oz) stale, dry sourdough bread *

salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method
1. Mix the cheeses together in a bowl.
2. In a large saucepan, bring the stock to the boil, add the cabbage and cook for 5 minutes, then turn off the heat and set aside.
3. Heat a little oil to a large frying pan over high heat and fry the bacon pieces until golden-brown and starting to crisp. Remove them from the pan and set aside.
4. In the same pan, add the butter, a little more oil and the garlic. Once hot, fry the pieces of bread until golden-brown and crisp on all sides. Do this in batches, setting each batch aside once browned and adding more oil as needed.
5. Preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6.
6. In a large flameproof casserole, use a slotted spoon to put half the cabbage in the bottom of the dish and season with plenty of pepper and a little salt. Add half the bread, half the bacon and half the cheese mixture.
7. Add the remaining cabbage, then bread and bacon. Ladle over the hot stock and top with the remaining cheese.
8. Place over a medium heat and bring to a simmer, then put the dish in the oven and bake, uncovered, for 30–40 minutes until hot, bubbling and all the cheese has melted. Serve in warm bowls.

* you can see a low carb sourdough bread recipe here

The above recipe taken from here

Related Posts - more recipes from Rick Stein:
Stuffed Chicken Legs with Mushrooms and Cheese here

Lamb Casserole with Aubergine / Eggplant here
Simple Cod Gratin with Béarnaise Sauce Topping here
Greek Style Moussaka here

~ enjoy your day ~

You will find a variety of recipe ideas within this blog, and it is important to note, not all may be suitable for you. If you may have any food allergies, or underlying health issues these must always be taken into account. If you are a diabetic (more about this here) and not sure how certain foods may affect your blood sugars, test is best, i.e. use a reliable meter. If you have any concerns about your health it is always advisable to consult your Doctor or health care team

All the best Jan