Grilled Savoy Cabbage

With Tuna Sauce

by LEON BOUTEILLER

I love cookbooks! I had well over a thousand at one time and though I’ve given away many to family and friends, to rummage sales and fund raisers, I still have hundreds. I used to pour over them long before I became a chef in a professional kitchen and when I became a frontline chef I studied them, front to back, finding inspiration and ideas about food that I’d not imagined before. In addition, of course, there are many magazines that focus on food and the food scene along with countless websites and blogs. But my favorite inspiration is to visit restaurants on my travels around the country and bring home some new ideas that I’ve actually had the privilege of tasting, prepared by the hand of the chef.

Though it’s the end of the summer, I still think of ways to utilize local ingredients, especially those from our gardens, and to use the grill to extract the most flavor. So with new inspiration, I have a recipe I think may be new but has roots in the past. The idea is to grill cabbage and serve it warm with a rich and satisfying sauce, combining flavors delivered by grilling with a textural contrast from the sauce and garnishes. I used Savoy cabbage instead of standard green cabbage, for it is a bit more tender, sweeter and less dense, allowing the cabbage to cook through. Another choice could be a cauliflower steak but here I’ve used what I had on hand, thanks to my sister’s prolific garden.

The sauce is a classic tuna sauce, traditionally served with cold poached veal, Vitello Tonatto. A seemingly odd combination that turns out to be excellent. So give it a go; it will be surprisingly delicious!

GRILLED SAVOY CABBAGE with TONATTO SAUCE

Ingredients for the sauce:

  • 1 seven ounce can of solid pack tuna in olive oil

  • 1 cup mayonnaise

  • 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

  • 2 tablespoons capers, drained

  • 4 or 5 anchovies packed in oil, drained (optional)

  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice

  • 1 clove garlic, peeled and chopped

  • 1 teaspoon dry tarragon

  • 1/4 teaspoon table salt, increase to 1/2 teaspoon if not using the anchovies

  • 1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper

Ingredients for the cabbage:

  • 1 medium head Savoy cabbage

  • extra virgin olive oil for grilling

  • salt and pepper to season the cabbage

Ingredients for service:

  • caperberries, drained and cut in half

  • black olives, drained, pitted and cut in half

  • toasted pumpkin seeds (optional)

Method:

  • fire up the grill to medium/low

  • place all of the ingredients for the sauce in a blender and mix for ten seconds, scrape it down and then blend on medium until smooth

  • cut wedges from the cabbage about 2 inches thick for each serving, rub the cut sides generously with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper

  • place the cabbage wedges, cut side down on the grill. Place the cover on the grill and let cook about 5 minutes. Carefully, turn the cabbage wedges over, replace the grill cover and cook for another 3 to 5 minutes

  • meanwhile, pour about 1/4 cup of sauce on each individual plate and when the cabbage is done, it will still be crunchy in the middle, place a wedge on each serving plate on top of the sauce

  • garnish the plate with some caperberries, olives and if desired, some pumpkin seeds

I believe you’ll find this to be a surprisingly delicious and satisfying first course and another interesting way to serve a vegetable and utilize your grill as the summer begins to wane and we enjoy these last weeks of outdoor entertainment. No fuss, no muss. Enjoy!

Leon G. Bouteiller was born and raised in Northwest Connecticut. He has held several jobs as chef in the community and is presently the Executive Working Pastry Chef at The Fife ‘n Drum in Kent. He is married to Patrice and lives in Cornwall with a Greater Swiss Mountain Dog named Banjo and two rescue cats named Ricky and Lucy.

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