Whole Roast Cabbage with Chilli Tahini Yoghurt & Pangrattato.
Roasting cabbage is one of my favourite things to do. It’s very very simply, a nice thing to put in the oven and forget about for a couple of hours. Cabbage is delicious cooked this way, tender and creamy inside and crispy and crunchy on the outside. The yoghurt with fermented chilli, tahini and herbs is so creamy and delicious and I think it super imperative to this dish, but don’t be afraid to play around with other flavours if you don’t like chilli or don’t have tahini – a bit of nice mustard in there with lots of black pepper will do the trick too.
Ingredients:
1 whole cabbage
¼ cup olive oil
½ cup veg stock
1 teaspoon caraway seeds (fennel seeds will work here too)
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon fermented red chilli paste (or regular red chilli paste/harissa)
1/2 cup Greek yoghurt
1 teaspoon tahini
A small handful of chopped mint, parsley and dill (about ¼ cup all up)
Tarragon & some spare dill for topping
½ cup breadcrumbs
Extra tablespoon of olive oil
Pinch of salt
Method.
1. Preheat oven to 180 C
2. Cut the tough stalk part from the bottom of the cabbage and score a cross into the base, about 3-4cm deep.
3. Put cabbage into a Dutch oven and pour stock into bottom.
4. Smother the top with the olive oil, ground coriander, caraway seeds and salt and rub into the skin with your fingers.
5. Cover with lid (or foil if you’re using a lidless pot) and cook in oven for 1.5 hours.
6. Remove the lid and continue cook for a further 45-60 minutes, until crunchy and brown on the outside but tender inside if stabbed with a butter knife.
7. In a small bowl, combine yoghurt, chilli, tahini and chopped herbs. Taste and adjust quantities or add salt/pepper if desired.
8. In a frypan over medium heat, heat the extra tablespoon olive oil and add breadcrumbs and salt, toast, tossing frequently, until golden brown.
9. Smear the yoghurt on the bottom of a plate, top with cabbage and then top with extra herbs and toasted breadcrumbs.