Mark Moriarty’s roasted cabbage with quick bacon and parsley sauce, pickled shallots

Serves: 2
Course: Dinner
Cooking Time: 20 mins
Prep Time: 10 mins
Ingredients
  • 1 York cabbage
  • 4 shallots, peeled and sliced
  • 160ml red wine vinegar
  • 40g caster sugar
  • Sea salt
  • 150g bacon lardons
  • 350ml single cream
  • 1 tsp Dijon mustard
  • Handful of flat leaf parsley, chopped
  • 1 clove garlic, diced
  • Juice of half a lemon
  • Cracked black pepper
  • 3 tbsp vegetable oil
  1. Start by making the pickled shallots. Peel and slice the shallots thinly and place in a bowl. In a small pot, heat the red wine vinegar, sugar and a pinch of salt until the sugar has dissolved. Pour the hot mixture over the sliced shallots and allow to cool before storing in a jar. These will keep for weeks in the fridge and are a welcome addition to many savoury dishes and salads.
  2. Now for the cabbage. Remove any frayed or bruised outer leaves of the York cabbage and then cut lengthways into quarters. Drizzle with two tbsps of the oil, making sure to rub the oil lightly over all parts of the cabbage, and season with salt and pepper. Heat a pan, then add the cabbage and fry for two minutes per side until lightly charred and brown all over. Remove from the pan and place on a tray or in a shallow pot, covered with a lid or some cling film. Leave to sit for 20 minutes at room temperature where the residual steam will cook the cabbage through.
  3. To make the sauce, use the same pan as you used for the cabbage. Heat a tablespoon of oil in a pan and add the bacon lardons. Fry until golden and crispy, then add the chopped garlic and soften lightly. Add the cream and reduce to a sauce consistency before turning off the heat. Season by stirring in the Dijon mustard, lemon juice and parsley along with a pinch of salt.
  4. Plate up the cabbage with a generous spoon of the bacon and parsley sauce and some pickled shallots.
Mark Moriarty

Mark Moriarty

Mark Moriarty is an award winning chef, TV host, author and Irish Times columnist.