Savoy Cabbage Soup with Bacon and Black Pepper

I adapted the recipe from a KCRW Good Food interview with Mark Peel, chef-owner of Campanile restaurant. Simple ingredients come together in a very sophiticated way. The result is elegant, yet rustic with a lot of flavor.

Savoy Cabbage Soup with Bacon and Black Pepper

By: Greg Henry

Print This Recipe Yield 4Source Adapted from Mark PeelPublished January 27, 2009

Ingredients

8 slice thick bacon (avoid the heavily smoked or flavored varieties if possible)
1 tablespoon olive oil
½ savoy cabbage sliced in chiffandes “slaw-style”
3 carrots, thinly sliced crosswise
2 cup celery hearts (white and light green interior with leaves) roughly chopped
2 cup chicken broth
6 cup water
½ teaspoon salt
plenty of freshly cracked black pepper

Directions

Chop the bacon into 1‑inch pieces. Heat a 5½ qt sauce pot over medium hrat. Add the olive oil and cook the bacon bits until they have rendered most of their fat and are beginning to get crisp

To the bacon add the thinly sliced chiffanades of cabbage with sliced carrots. Sautéed the veggies until softened somewhat. Then add the coarsely celery, leaves and all. Stir to well to coat the mixture with the bacan fat.

Add 2 cups of chicken broth and six cups of water to the pot and gently simmer the mix about ½ hour. Season with salt and plenty of freshly cracked black pepper. Continue to heat the soup over ow heat another 6 or 7 minutes to bring the seasoning into balance.

Ladle the soup into large flat bowls so as to savor its fragrance and serve hot, with more cracked pepper.

8 Responses

Y 3 /6/2009 @ 11:19 pm

I love anchovies, garlic and cauliflower, but wouldn’t have thought to present the dish this way. Looks rather dramatic, in a good way 🙂

Biz 1 /20/2009 @ 2:06 pm

I just recently started liking cauliflour — I think growing up my mom just cooked the death out of veggies — until my late 20’s I think the only vegetables I ate were cucumbers and iceburg lettuce. But I am making up for lost time!

I recently made a cauliflour au gratin and it tasted like mac and cheese to me! I also like it roasted with salt and pepper and the drizzled with balsamic vinegar.

Can’t wait to check out the rest of your blog!

Good eats!

Greg Henry 1 /20/2009 @ 5:22 pm

Yum is my favorite word in the English language, followed closely by yum-yum! GREG

Daily Spud 1 /20/2009 @ 3:01 am

I do like my cauli and love that idea of steaming it whole, which I’ve never tried. I tend to use it mostly in Indian-style dishes (and they do a lot of justice to cauliflowers in that cuisine — Chef E mentions curry powder — she knows whereof she speaks). I do sometimes make a puree out of steamed cauli, butter, salt and pepper and maybe add some toasted cumin seeds — mush, yes, bland, no.

On a separate note, I am also glad to hear mention of the potato as a vegetable of high-esteem — well I would, now, wouldn’t I 🙂

Chef E 1 /19/2009 @ 8:53 pm

I hate to say it, but this one of my first experimental foods in college…I boiled, steamed, sauted, and even FRIED, yes, I abused this gentle plant…but now I know she works best in an olive oil massage and sauted with onions to keep her company, and a dash of…curry powder…not too much, but enough to bring out her flavor…too dramatic? well it is all true…and I am not ashamed to admit my love affair with her!