Cast Iron Roasted Cabbage with Confit Potatoes, Apples & Warm Rigatino Dressing

As you walk through the farmers market in winter, you may find it’s slim pickings out there. The vegetables get hardier to brave the cold months. However, there are tasty recipes you can make using locally available ingredients.

Cabbage, potatoes, apples, cured pork. Today’s recipe is simple, straightforward and will keep ya warm during the winter months. It’s great as an appetizer or side dish for roast chicken or pork. Preparing this recipe is a quick two-day process. You’ll have extra for leftovers.

This recipe was inspired by my time working at Chefs Club. We made a side dish of charred cabbage, potato, apple and whole-grain mustard. It was simple and delicious. In creating this dish, I also wanted to pay homage to my grandmother’s hot bacon dressing with dandelions. A dish of humble beginnings.

That’s where La Salumina in Hurleyville comes in. La Salumina makes salumi, which is Italian for charcuterie. Salumi can include raw, cooked and cured meats. Some examples are rigatino (which we’ll use in this recipe), salame, prosciutto and cotechino, just to name a few. Although rigatino is not smoked like bacon, it is like pancetta. Its cured, peppery porkiness is just what our recipe needs.

I had the pleasure of meeting and interviewing La Salumina’s co-owner, Eleanor, in October. My time there gave me a sense that she and her husband, Gianpiero, produce some of the nation’s best salumi right here in the Hudson Valley. They utilize ingredients from local farms they trust, such as Climbing Tree Farm, Gibson Family Farms and Kinderhook Farms.

Day 1: Making the Rigatino Dressing, Confit Potatoes & Apple Sauce

Rigatino Dressing

Less is more in this recipe. Let the rigatino do all the work. You only need a few ingredients.

Prep Time: 5 to 10 minutes | Cook Time: 10 to 15 minutes

Ingredients

• 1/ l4b. rigatino, rind removed, cut into lardons or diced small
• 1 shallot, peeled and finely chopped
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1 pinch of sugar

Step by Step

1. In a medium sauce pot, add the lardons of rigatino and begin to render (leech out the fat) over medium-low heat, about 3 to 5 minutes. As the rigatino crisps slightly, the fat helps to make the dressing.
2. Once all the rigatino fat has been rendered, add your finely chopped shallots and cook over medium heat for another 3 minutes to soften the shallots.
3. Next, go ahead and add your apple cider vinegar and a pinch of sugar.
4. Cut the heat and let the dressing cool to room temperature. Then, store in an airtight container in the refrigerator overnight. The flavors will meld together and be super tasty for tomorrow.

Confit Potatoes

Confit is a fancy term for cooking an ingredient while it’s submerged in fat. Some examples are duck legs cooked in duck fat or pork shoulder cooked in pork fat. Today, we are cooking potatoes in potato fat. Just kidding, potatoes obviously don’t have fat so we will use olive oil instead.

Now, I know what you’re thinking. Olive oil is expensive. It can be. But for this preparation, you don’t need the finest finishing oil. You can reuse this oil many times over. I usually reuse it four times before its magic wanes. Each time gets more flavorful because you’ll add more fresh herbs. Chefs like to call this technique “fortifying” or “infusing”. Those terms apply to things like oils or sauces that are repurposed by adding fresh herbs to steep in flavor.

Prep Time: 5 to 10 minutes | Cook Time: 35 to 45 minutes | Pre-heat Oven: 350F degrees

Ingredients

• 3 fingerling potatoes, thumb size
• 3 red marble potatoes
• 3 purple marble potatoes, medium size
• 2 shallots, thinly sliced
• 10 garlic cloves, smashed and left in their skin
• 1 rosemary sprig
• 2 thyme sprigs
• 3 bay leaves
• 4 cups olive oil
• 1 tablespoon salt

Step by Step

1. Pre-heat your oven to 350F degrees.
2. In a large oven-safe sauce pot, combine the shallots, smashed garlic, rosemary, thyme, bay leaves and olive oil.
3. Let the mixture steep on your stovetop over medium heat for 10 minutes.
4. Next, carefully add your potatoes. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.
5. Cover the pot and place it into your oven.
6. Check the oven every 15 minutes until the potatoes are cooked evenly and fork tender. Cooking time varies based on your oven and the size of the potatoes.
7. Now that the potatoes are fork tender, let them cool completely in the olive oil.
8. Once cool, remove the potatoes from the oil and place them into a large airtight container.
9. Pour the remaining infused olive oil over the potatoes.
10. Cover with a lid and refrigerate overnight so they soak up all the flavor.

Applesauce

This is a two-ingredient sauce. That’s it! You’ll need water and apples, in that order. Hudson Valley is home to some of the best apples on the planet. Let them do their thing. This a great recipe to whip together while your confit potatoes are in the oven because the prep time is minimal and cooking is a quick, hands-off process.

Prep Time: 5 minutes | Cook Time: 20 to 30 minutes | Special Equipment: Blender or food mill

Ingredients

• 2 cups apples, unpeeled, roughly chopped into 1-inch pieces (about 3 to 4 apples, preferably Mutsu)
• 1 cup water

Step by Step

1. In a medium sauce pot, combine the roughly chopped apples and water over medium heat.
2. Begin to cook the apples down until they burst and become what we know as apple sauce. This will take about 10 to 15 minutes.
3. Once the apples have burst open, give them a smash with the back of a spoon to help them along.
4. Continue to simmer the apple mixture over medium-low heat until a paste forms, about 10 to 15 minutes more. Stir often as the apples are loaded with sugar and will stick.
5. Once the moisture from the apples has evaporated, blend the mixture in a blender or food mill.
6. Place the applesauce in an airtight container and cool to room temperature.
7. Cover with a lid and store in your refrigerator overnight.

Day 2: Charring the Cabbage, Roasting the Apples, Re-warming the Confit Potatoes & Rigatino Dressing, Preparing the Apple Wedges & Assembling the Plate

Cast Iron Roasted Cabbage

Prep Time: 5 to 10 minutes| Cook Time 25 minutes| Pre-heat Oven: 400F degrees | Special Equipment: Heavy-bottom pan

Ingredients

• 1 small head of cabbage (approximately 1 lb.), cut into quartered wedges
• 2 tablespoons grapeseed oil
• Salt, to taste

Step by Step

1. Pre-heat your oven to 400F degrees.
2. Cut the cabbage into quarter wedges (about 3 inches in diameter), leaving the core intact. This will prevent the cabbage from falling apart.
3. Place a large heavy-bottom pan over medium-high heat.
4. Slick the bottom of the pan with grapeseed oil.
5. Place the cabbage cut side down into the hot pan and cook for 5 minutes without flipping until you achieve a deep brown, almost-charred black color on one side.
6. Once you’ve charred the cabbage on one side, flip it over and char the other side for 5 minutes.
7. Next, place the cabbage into the oven and cook until fork tender, about 5 to 7 minutes.
8. Remove the cabbage from the oven, season with salt and let rest in the pan until you’re ready to plate. Don’t turn the oven off just yet. You will need it to prepare the apples in the next step.

Roasted Apples

Prep Time: 5 to 10 minutes | Cook Time: 10 minutes | Pre-heat Oven: 400F degrees | Special Equipment: Heavy-bottom pan

Ingredients

• 2 small apples, cut in half (I prefer Lady Apples since they’re about the size of a golf ball. If you can’t find them, go ahead and use one of your favorite cooking apples such as Golden Russet, Northern Spy or Winesap. For larger apples, cut into 6 wedges, top to bottom)
• 1 tablespoon grapeseed oil
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 2 thyme sprigs
• Salt, to taste

Step by Step

1. Pre-heat your oven to 400F degrees.
2. Heat a heavy-bottom pan to medium-high heat on the stove.
3. Add the grapeseed oil, butter and thyme.
4. Once the butter starts foaming, add your cut apples with the cut side down.
5. Roast the apples over medium-high heat until they are browned on the cut side.
6. Next, move the pan to your oven, keeping the cut side facing down.
7. Roast in the oven for 3 to 5 minutes, being careful not to overcook. You want the apples tender, but not mushy.
8. Once cooked, remove the pan from the oven.
9. Set the pan with the apples on your stovetop until you’re ready to plate.

Re-warming the Confit Potatoes & Rigatino Dressing

Prep Time: 10 to 15 minutes

Step by Step

1. Place the confit potatoes you prepared yesterday into a medium sauté pan.
2. Gently warm the potatoes over medium-low heat.
3. Once they are warmed, scoop out the potatoes and save the oil for later use.
4. Place the potatoes on a plate lined with paper towel to drain.
5. Season with salt.
6. Set the potatoes aside until you are ready for service.
7. Next, in a small saucepan, gently warm the rigatino dressing you prepared yesterday over low heat until you are ready to plate.

Apple Wedges

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 apple of your choice (I prefer Honeycrisp or red-skinned apples to add color contrast to the plate)

Step by Step

1. Save this as your last task before plating. They’ll be fresher and brighter in flavor. I don’t recommend holding them in water with lemon to prevent oxidation. I believe this only makes the apples waterlogged and taste like, well, lemon water.
2. Cut your apple into 6 to 8 wedges, depending on your apple size. You’re looking for wedges about an inch in thickness. Don’t cut the wedges too big as the apples are not the focal point of this dish.

Assembly

Ingredients

• Freshly coarse cracked pepper
• Flaky sea salt

Step by Step

1. Spoon some applesauce off center on each plate.
2. Place a wedge of cabbage to the left of the applesauce.
3. Place a roasted apple at the top left corner.
4. Scatter the confit potatoes and apple wedges rustically on the plate.
5. Spoon the rigatino dressing all over the entire dish.
6. Crack some coarse pepper and a sprinkle of flaky sea salt, and you’re good to go.
7. Enjoy with friends and family.