MORE PLEASE - BRASSICAS

Savoy Cabbage and Cumin Baked Rice, Cavolo Nero Polenta with Eggs and Anchovies, Kohlrabi Soup and Baron Bigod Toastie

Good Monday to you all - I hope the cold in the UK this past week hasn’t been too unbearable for you. Hopefully todays recipes will provide a bit of nutrient dense and comforting balm for all the frigid evenings we have been having.

Brassicas are probably my favourite vegetable family. Home of useful (read: healthy) and extremely delicious types of veg that I find myself incorporating in my diet more than any others - it’s your broccolis, your cauliflowers, good leafy greens and cabbages with a pungent, almost mustardy flavour. I don’t think they get celebrated near enough so I thought I would put together a little episode here for them with some glorious ways to use them.

First up we have Savoy Cabbage and Cumin Baked Rice. A frilly, deep green Savoy Cabbage is one of the pure joys of winter cooking. It’s such a deeply delicious vegetable and when I was little my Dad, a brilliant home cook, always used to pair it with cumin. They are perfect together, as the rich spice helps transform any bitterness from the leaves into sweet-savoury heaven. This Baked Rice is a great way to feed a crowd very cheaply and is a wonderful veggie centrepiece for any hosting you may have coming up. My husband told me it’s in the top 5 veggie dishes I have ever made him, so make of that what you will.

Next we have Cavolo Nero Polenta with Eggs and Anchovies, because polenta is my favourite sludgy comfort at this time of year. Cooked Cavolo Nero blends into the most divine green purée and lends an amazing earthy flavour, and I’ve used it to finish my polenta (with the requisite amounts of butter and cheese too, don’t worry.)Then it’s topped with a soft boiled egg for protein and anchovies and chilli to echo the flavour of those brilliant and verdant Southern Italian pastas we all love. A spectacularly warming lunch.

Finally we are deep in soup season and I think you should consider adding this Kohlrabi number to your repertoire. Kohlrabi doesn’t look much like a brassica upon first impressions - it’s closer to a turnip in vibe, but it’s actually much sweeter and a real gift in the kitchen. When I was in culinary school 13 years ago we made a simple kohlrabi purée that has stayed with me ever since, and this soup is an homage to that. It’s very easy to make and topped with a lemony, rosemary oil and served with a funky Baron Bigod Toastie it’s a huge treat.