Colcannon Filled Cabbage Purses with Irish Parsley Sauce Recipe

Colcannon Filled Cabbage Purses with Irish Parsley Sauce

Ingredients:

For cabbage purses:

• Colcannon
• 10-12 large cabbage leaves
• Scallion greens

For Irish parsley sauce:

• 1/4 cup butter
• 3 tbsp flour
• 1/4 cup cabbage stock (or vegetable stock)
• 1 1/4 cup milk
• 1/2 cup finely chopped parsley
• Salt and pepper to taste (note: Purely traditional parsley sauce does not use salt)

Method:

For cabbage purses:

Carefully remove leaves from a large head of cabbage. Remove stems and thick veins gently with an extremely sharp pairing knife to avoid tearing.

Trim the greens from one bunch of scallions. Reserve the white ends for later use.

Blanch cabbage leaves and scallion greens in boiling salted water for approximately 5 minutes or until leaves are pliable and greens are wilted. Transfer gently to a large bowl filled with water and ice. This will shock the greens and allow them to retain their color.

If desired, place 1/2 cup of the blanching water in a saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat, reduce heat to low and simmer until reduced by 1/2 to make a knock-off cabbage stock for the parsley sauce.

place a tablespoon of colcannon in the center of the leaf and fold edges up to form a purse. Tie with blanched scallion greens and place gently in a steamer basket.

When all leaves have been formed, place steamer over simmering water and steam pursed for 10-12 minutes or until filling is heated through.

(Alternate cooking method: Place purses in a shallow oven proof dish with 1/4 inch of vegetable or cabbage stock and bake, loosely covered with foil at 350°F for approximately 8 minutes.)

For Irish parsley sauce:

Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add flour and stir together to form a loose roux. Stir continuously for 1 to 2 minutes, until flour smells just slightly nutty but has not browned. (A white roux) Add stock gradually, stirring constantly. Once fully incorporated, add milk. Bring to a low boil and stir constantly for approximately 3 minutes or until sauce coats the back of a spoon.

Stir in parsley and add salt and pepper to taste.

Serve immediately.

Plating:

Spoon a good bit of parsley suce onto the center of a serving dish or bowl. Arrange purses in sauce. Drizzle a tiny bit of sauce over purses.

Serve immediately.

When eating this dish, take a piece of the purse and cover in a good nit of the sauce. Each component of this dish is a bit bland on its own, but when the flavors are combined, it’s phenomenal.