Cabbage in white wine

This recipe called Verza in Umido stems from ITALY The Beautiful Cookbook. I have been preparing it a lot since I started to order a weekly assortment of organic vegetables, because there have been lots of cabbages supplied. The recipe is meant for savoy cabbage (green with curly leaves), but works for other types of white and green cabbages.

Serves 4-6

1 cabbage
100 g pancetta or bacon, cut in small pieces
1 tbsp butter
1/8 - 1/4 l dry white wine
salt and pepper
1 tbsp aceto balsamico

Cut the cabbage in thin pieces and wash it.
Put the butter in a big pan and bake the bacon until golden brown.
Add the cabbage and some pepper, close the lid and let the cabbage cook for about 30 min on medium heat until all the juice has gone.
Add wine, aceto and salt and let it cook for another 20 min.
Serve hot.

Minestrone

I am definitely a big soup fan. I like the simple soups that you prepare in no time but also the ones that simmer for hours and can be served as a main course. My mother used to make a traditional type of minestrone with white beans and tomatoes and bacon, which I might post one day. But some time ago I made a different type, based on a recipe from Emmanuela Stucchi's 'Italian vegetarian cooking'. I changed the ingredients a bit and of course I added Jerusalem artichoke. I hadn't gotten round to posting this yet so here it comes. I didn't note the quantities so just use your own judgment.


white cabbage, washed and sliced thinly
leeks, cleaned and chopped
Jerusalem artichokes, peeled and chopped
potatoes, peeled and chopped
celery, cleaned and chopped
peas (I used frozen organic ones)
red kidney beans, soaked overnight

The recipe is very simple: put the beans in a big pot with a lot of water, bring to the boil and let it boil vigorously for 10 min without covering the pot (to remove poisonous traces from the beans). Add the vegetables and salt, bring to the boil again, then lower the heat, cover the pot and let the soup simmer for 1,5 - 2 hours.
Serve with a toast rubbed with garlic, which you put in the plate before adding the soup, and with olive oil and a little parmezan if you like.

Note: the original recipe was with potatoes, peas, cabbage, runner beans, courgettes, cannellini beans and some pasta. It said to serve the soup with pesto.