Cavolo Nero, Kale’s Heartier Cousin

Cavolo Nero, Kale’s Heartier Cousin

Cavolo nero, or black cabbage, is a star ingredient in the winter kitchen

By Paul Levy in the Wall Street Journal

WHEN RUTH ROGERS and Rose Gray introduced cavolo nero to their diners in the late 1980s, growing it in pots at London’s River Café, it wasn’t because it was a so-called superfood. It was because this member of the cabbage family was so, culinarily speaking, sexy. In fact, according to Paulo Arrigo of Seeds of Italy, where we buy the seed for our Oxfordshire vegetable garden, the Victorians first imported it to Britain as an ornamental plant, for the aesthetic appearance of its crinkly, dark leaves.

The River Café is big on authenticity, and cavolo nero is essential to the genuine recipe for ribollita, a “reboiled” winter vegetable stew. The charm of this Tuscan peasant dish for 21st-century foodies is both its simple heartiness and its one elusive, emphatically regional, ingredient. Italy may have been politically unified in the 19th century but foodwise, it’s still a collection of regions. You don’t get ribollita in Piedmont or Sicily, and you can’t buy cavolo nero in those places either.

A cousin of kale also known as black cabbage, cavolo nero has deep green, almost blue-black fibrous leaves that taste slightly bitter, with a subdued peppery kick and a rich, sweet aftertaste that make it as interesting to urban sophisticates as it was to Tuscan peasants. Like other members of the kale kinship network, it’s best destalked and blanched. After draining and squeezing the leaves dry, slice them crosswise into ribbons and pronto! they’re ready to be sautéed, braised or even, if young, used in a salad.

A versatile ingredient, cavolo nero’s pungent, acerbic note makes it star in a mixed-leaf or chunked raw cauliflower salad topped with pomegranate seeds, and it punches above its weight with salty anchovies. As a side dish, dress it simply with olive oil, minced garlic and shaved Parmesan. A perfect pairing with fennel-fragrant Italian sausages, cavolo nero is also heroic when combined with pasta. But whatever way you chop it, this is the new (again) winter essential.

PASTA WITH CAVOLO NERO, ANCHOVY AND CHILI

TOTAL TIME: 15 minutes | SERVES: 4

300g pasta of your choice
2 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, peeled and diced
1-2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
6-8 anchovy fillets in oil
1-2 fresh or dried chilies, sliced or crumbled
400g peeled plum tomatoes, drained and chopped (optional)
300g cavolo nero, destalked, blanched and sliced into thin ribbons (if using thin pasta, shred finely)
Salt and pepper
Minced parsley
Parmesan (optional)

1. Cook pasta in a large pot of salted water, according to directions on packet.

2. While pasta is cooking, heat oil in a saucepan large enough to hold everything. Sauté onion and garlic until transparent.

3. Mash anchovies into onion and garlic with a wooden spoon. Add chilies and tomatoes, if using them. Cook for 2-3 minutes.

4. Add cavolo nero, lightly stirring. When well mixed, add pasta. Season with salt and pepper.

5. Top with parsley and grated Parmesan (if using) and serve immediately. If the dish seems dry, loosen it up with a little bit of pasta water or a few glugs of olive oil.

TUSCAN RIBOLLITA

TOTAL TIME: 45 minutes | SERVES: 6

2 400g cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
2 tbsp good olive oil, plus extra for serving
2 carrots, peeled and coarsely chopped
2 celery stalks, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium onion, chopped
2 sprigs of fresh thyme
2 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
400g peeled plum tomatoes, drained and chopped
400g cavolo nero, destalked and coarsely chopped
300g Swiss chard, destalked and chopped
700g white cabbage, coarsely chopped
400g stale bread, preferably unsalted, torn into bite-size chunks
Salt and pepper

1. Place beans in a large pot and cover in water by 5 cm. Simmer until soft, about 5 minutes, adding salt when tender. Drain. Set cooking water aside, using some of it to purée half the cooked beans.

2. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add carrots, celery, garlic, onion and thyme, and sauté until fragrant. Add potatoes and tomatoes, and simmer 1-2 minutes.

3. Add cavolo nero, chard, cabbage, puréed beans and reserved cooking water. Simmer 30 minutes.

4. Add remaining beans and bread, stirring to thicken. Remove from heat and check the seasoning, adding extra olive oil to taste.

5. You can cheat and serve the soup immediately, topping with a little boiling water if it’s not soupy enough; or the next day, bring the soup gently to a boil, checking the liquid balance and seasoning. Serve with another slick of olive oil.

CAVOLO NERO WITH MUSTARD

TOTAL TIME: 25 minutes | SERVES: 4 as a side

1 medium onion, peeled and sliced
1 tbsp unsalted butter
140 mL double cream
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
300g cavolo nero, destalked, blanched and sliced into thin ribbons
Salt and pepper

1. In a pan over medium heat, sauté the onion in the butter until translucent.

2. Stir in the cream and mustard until blended. Add the cavolo nero and heat through.

3. Check seasoning, adding more as desired, and serve immediately so that the mustard retains its bite.