After picking several small headed cabbages from the garden this past weekend, I was trying to think of a dish that I could use them in. Thumbing through one of my favorite cookbooks titled Italian Regional Cooking, by Ada Boni, I came across a section devoted to Lombard regional cooking.
Verzada, a hearty yet simple Italian peasant-style casserole is comforting and absolutely delicious ... and the perfect Sunday night supper!
INGREDIENTS:
3-4 small white cabbages
3.5 ounces belly pork or pancetta
1 onion
2 tbsp butter
2½ tbsp white-wine vinegar
Salt
8 sausages
DIRECTIONS:
Cut away the outer leaves of the cabbage. Shred the rest coarsely, wash and drain. Slice the belly pork into bits about the width of a pencil.
Slice the onion. Heat the butter in a large saucepan.
Add the pork and fry until the fat begins to run. Add the onion and fry until soft but not brown. Add the cabbage, stir to coat in the pork fat, and cook over a moderate heat until it begins to brown.
Sprinkle with the vinegar and season with salt.
Arrange the sausages on top, cover and simmer over a gentle heat for 40 minutes to an hour.
Serve at once.
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