Savoy Cabbage with Coriander and Maltese Sausages
Last week's guest, my Mediterranean mama Jenny, brought so many mouthwatering delicacies from her home island to our kitchen that I didn't even know where to start: Maltese sausages, pies, bread and cheese! Earlier this year, I shared our table with you, covered with gifts from another frequent and beloved guest, my partner's sister Emma. To get an idea of our delicious feast, take a look here.
After a couple pies and a few slices of the wonderful sourdough bread, we continued the next morning, with a scrumptious English breakfast. Bacon, beans and the strongly seasoned island sausages with lots of coriander crowned our plates. You couldn't ask for more on a late Sunday morning! As Jenny knows how much we love this spiced meat composition, she brought enough of it with her to feed a big Mediterranean family. So here's what we had next on our table:
It has been cold outside in the past few days as we watched the last red and yellow leaves fall outside our windows. This is the start of the comfy food season, the best time to have a hearty meal of Savoy cabbage, potatoes and meat, all cooked in one pot and placed on our wooden table. It was quite a cosy scene! For the first time, I cooked the cabbage with coarsely crushed coriander seeds inspired by the Maltese sausages. I refined it with spicy mustard and a little cream and it was great. Not many of you will have the chance to find these kind of sausages but you can easily replace them with salsiccia or any other strong sausage, or wait until the end of this week:
On Friday, I'll have a special treat for you! I met an Australian butcher to learn how the professionals make sausages and I can't wait to share it with you in the next meet in your kitchen story!
Savoy Cabbage with Coriander and Maltese Sausages
For 4-6 people you need
coarse sausages 4-6
Savoy cabbage, quartered, cored, 1.2kg / 2.5 pounds
potatoes, peeled and cut into small cubes, 500g / 1 pound
medium onions, finely chopped, 2
white wine 300ml / 10 ounces
heavy cream 100ml / 3.5 ounces
water 200ml / 7 ounces
coriander seeds, coarsely crushed in a mortar, 1 teaspoon plus more to taste
Dijon mustard, 1 teaspoon plus more to taste
olive oil
salt and pepper
Cut each quarter of the cabbage into thick slices and then into cubes. Rinse and drain them.
In a large pot, heat a splash of olive oil and cook the onions on medium heat for a few minutes until golden and soft. Put the wet cabbage on top of the onions, add 1/3 of the wine, stir and close with a lid. Cook for 5 minutes before you add the potatoes, the remaining wine and the water. Add the coriander seeds and mustard and season with salt and pepper. Cook for about 10 minutes on medium-low heat (lid closed) until the cabbage is between soft and al dente. Add the cream and season to taste. Put the sausages in between the cabbage and let them cook (covered) for 5-10 minutes until they are done.
Mediterranean Sausage Sandwich with Rucola and Coriander Oil
For this rich sandwich you need strong and tasty, coarse sausages, stuffed with flavours. Maltese sausage is ideal as it is the most aromatic and also the chunkiest sausage I've ever eaten. The meat is enhanced with lots of garlic, coriander seeds, spicy black peppercorns and parsley, while sea salt adds a strong saltiness. These sausages are perfect for a thick wintery vegetable soup, but in summer I like to have them in sandwiches. You could also use an Italian salsiccia which is also rich in flavours.
I like to fry the sausages first, then I deglaze them in the pan with a splash of wine, sweet wine even. I close the pan with a lid and let the meat cook in the juices until it's still a bit pinky on the inside. When you fry them only, they tend to dry out as they need quite a few minutes to be cooked through, and I like them juicy! Some people here in Malta like to eat them raw, a habit I'm a bit suspicious of due to the hot climate, but the taste apparently is amazing, according to my friends!
For this week's sandwich, I cut a crusty sourdough bun in half and brushed both sides with the cooking juices before I covered the bottom side with rucola (arugula or rocket salad) leaves and thick slices of juicy sausage. I sprinkled the meat with a bit of olive oil infused with coriander seeds and squeezed the bun together for it to soak all the nice and aromatic cooking liquids. This sandwich is quite hearty but the rucola and the coriander add a light summery feeling to it!
Mediterranean Sausage Sandwich with Rucola and Coriander Oil
For 2 sandwiches you need
crusty sourdough buns, cut in half, 2
thick, coarse sausages, preferably with herbs and spices like salsiccia, 2
rucola leaves, a handful
olive oil 3 tablespoons plus more for frying
coriander seeds, lightly crushed in a mortar, 1/2 teaspoon
white wine for deglazing
Warm 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a saucepan with the coriander seeds for a few minutes to infuse the oil.
Heat a splash of olive oil in a pan and fry the sausages until golden brown on all sides. Deglaze with a splash of wine, close with a lid and cook for a few minutes until the meat is just a little pink on the inside. Cut the sausages into thick slices.
Brush both sides of the bun with the cooking liquid, cover with rucola leaves and spread the sausage slices on top. Sprinkle with the coriander oil and close the bun, pushing it together a bit.
Homemade Sausage with Herbs and Spices and Baked Fennel with Parmesan
Our last visitors from Malta brought some of my favourite sausages along, coarse Maltese pork sausage stuffed with lots of spices and garlic. The kind that you can use to spice up a whole pot of soup. When it comes to sausage that's exactly what I like! When I'm in Malta I fry them for breakfast without their skin and cut in half, like a burger, some fried zucchini (qarabaghli in Maltese) on the side and and I'm prepared for a day on the beach.
The gift from Malta inspired me to make my own sausages, but without skin from the start. I make mine like burgers without egg and bread (apart from a tablespoon of breadcrumbs) and with pork and beef unlike the original. Most importantly they are enhanced with plenty of rosemary, parsley, coriander and fennel seeds (luckily I still have some left from Malta to keep it even more authentic) and my coarse sea salt from Mr. Cini's salt pans in Gozo, Malta's sister island. Spices and salt from other parts of the world will work as well, I just like to add the nice memories and to me, they taste best. As fennel already has such an importance in this meal I add the bulbs as well, baked in the oven with onions, garlic and parmesan. It's the right addition to my Mediterranean sausages which I fry first before I deglaze them with a splash of white wine. This makes a thick sauce of juices, delicious together with the meat and the vegetable.
Homemade Sausage with Herbs and Spices and Baked Fennel with Parmesan
This makes a dinner for 3-4.
For the sausage
minced beef 300g / 10.5 ounces
minced pork 300g / 10.5 ounces
dry breadcrumbs 1 tablespoon
fresh parsley, chopped, a medium bunch
fresh rosemary, chopped roughly, 1 teaspoon
coriander seeds, ground in a mortar, 1 tablespoon
fennel seeds, ground in a mortar, 3/4 tablespoon
black peppercorns, ground in a mortar (coarsely), 1 tablespoon
garlic, crushed, 2 large cloves
coarse sea salt 1 1/2 teaspoons
white wine for deglazing
olive oil for frying
Mix the ingredients well and shape thick sausages. Heat some olive oil in a large cast iron (or heavy) pan and fry the sausages on medium heat until all sides are golden brown. Deglaze the sausages with a splash of wine so that the bottom of your pan is covered, the liquid shouldn't evaporate completely. Turn down the heat, scrape the juices off and close the pan with a lid for 1-2 minutes until the sausages are done inside.
For the baked fennel
large bulbs of fennel, quartered and blanched together with 1/2 lemon for 8 minutes, 2 bulbs (keep the green of the fennel bulbs uncooked and chopped for the topping)
medium onions, chopped, 2
garlic, crushed, 2 cloves
olive oil
Parmesan, grated, 3 tablespoons (you can add more if you like)
salt and black pepper
Set the oven to 200°C / 390°F (I used the Rotitherm roasting setting) and brush a medium sized baking dish with olive oil.
Fry the onion and garlic in a little oil on medium heat until golden brown.
Put the fennel in the baking dish and sprinkle with olive oil and the green of the fennel. Season with salt and pepper, add the fried onions and garlic and cover with parmesan. Bake for 10 minutes until the cheese is golden brown and crisp.
