I'm a big fan of the Brassicaceae family, especially of its "cabbage lineage".
I just love everything that looks (and tastes) like broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower or Dutch kale (the oh so lovely boerenkool) but my absolute favourite is Tuscan kale, better known as cavolo nero (literally black cabbage).
If you walk around the Tuscan countryside during Autumn and Winter you'll definitely see the beautiful, tall and dark green leaves of this delicious kale practically everywhere. It's not for nothing that cavolo nero is
one of the most typical and popular vegetables from this Italian region often used in the local cuisine - think about ribollita, one of Tuscany's most known soups.
I've found this recipe online on a Dutch site (this one) and I tried it immediately, changing it a bit to my own taste. Delicious! So delicious that I now use it during my cooking courses in Amsterdam (see pictures).
Make one tortino
per person. Of course you can also prepare a big oven dish full of this yummy stuff but the cut slices won't look as nice as the single portion ones.
Tortini di patate e cavolo nero
Serves 8-10
1 bunch of cavolo nero (Tuscan kale)
8 potatoes
Olive oil extra vergine
400 gr Montasio or Taleggio cheese
Salt and pepper
Accessories needed: mandoline to slice the potatoes
Peel the potatoes, cut them in very thin slices using the mandolin and cook them in boiling salted water for about 1-2 minutes.
Rinse them with cold water and dry them.
Remove the stems and the thick nerves from the cavolo nero.
Wash the leaves and cook them for 3 -5 minutes in a lot of salted boiling water. They have to stay a bit crunchy. Leave them to dry on a kitchen cloth.
Cut the Montasio or Taleggio cheese in thin slices.
Pre-heat the oven at 225° C. Take 8-10 little oven dishes (ramequins) and cover them with baking parchment. If you make the parchment wet with some water it will be more pliable.
Cover the bottom of the ramequins with some overlapping potato slices.
Brush with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
Lay some kale leaves on top of the potatoes but leave their outer parts hanging out of the ramequins. Cover with some cheese and season again with salt and pepper. Cover with the rest of the potatoes and of the cheese. Put a kale leaf in the middle and fold the hanging leaves around it. Press well all the ingredients and brush with olive oil.
Cover the ramequins wit tin foil and lay them in the oven for about 25 minutes.
Remove from the oven, remove the foil and turn them upside down so that the potatoes on the bottom are now facing up. Remove the baking parchment and serve hot.
Click on the small pictures to enlarge them
Recent Comments