“Spring’s occasional alpine temperatures call for soup,” says McEnearney. “This soup teams lovely tender Savoy cabbage with the very early pickings of summer savory. It’s one of those magical one-pot dishes that can get plonked in the middle of the table and enjoyed hot or warm. Do look for good sourdough bread, as sliced white just won’t do: it will just melt and it certainly won’t contribute to the flavour.”
Ingredients
Method
Main
1.Preheat oven to 180C. Heat duck fat in a large saucepan over medium-high heat, add onion and stir occasionally until tender and translucent (4-5 minutes). Add cabbage, stir until wilted (1-2 minutes), season and set aside.
2.Layer one-third of the bread slices in a 5-litre casserole and scatter with half the cabbage mixture, half the herbs and one-third of the cheese, seasoning to taste as you go. Repeat layering, add remaining bread, pour three-quarters of the stock over, scatter with remaining cheese and bake until golden and bubbling (15-20 minutes). Pour in remaining stock, stand until absorbed (15 minutes), scatter with cayenne pepper and serve hot.
Duck fat is available in cans from select delicatessens. Savory is available from select greengrocers; if it’s unavailable, use thyme.
This recipe is from the October 2012 issue of
.
Notes
