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A Very Updated Vegetable Chartreuse
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Ingredients
- 1head savoy cabbage, about 2 pounds
- 1½cups combined julienne celery and celery leaves, plus 1½ cups finely diced celery
- 4teaspoons sea salt, separated, plus more for blanching
- 9tablespoons butter, separated
- 2tablespoons olive oil, separated
- ¼cup finely diced white onion or shallot
- 1clove garlic, finely chopped
- 3-4 tablespoons mixed chopped sage, rosemary and thyme
- 9-10 cups finely diced mushrooms — any combination white-button, cremini, wild
- ¼cup good dry white wine
- ¼cup chopped parsley leaves, or mixed parsley and celery leaves
- 1½tablespoons crème fraîche
- 2pounds or 4 large bunches spinach
- 1large grate of nutmeg
- 1tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon sherry
- 1cup grated Parmesan cheese
Preparation
- Step 1
Cut the cabbage core/stem end. Separate off 12-13 leaves (several will be extra), choosing the biggest, most beautiful. Boil a pot of water, and salt until it tastes like pleasant seawater. Cook separated leaves in two batches, 3-4 minutes each, removing when they are pliable with a sieve or tongs to a baking tray lined with cloths or a large colander. Let them drain until very dry.
- Step 2
From the remaining cabbage, very finely slice two cups of leaves, leaving the thick central stem behind (save/freeze for vegetable soup). Add the 1½ cups julienne celery and leaves and 1 teaspoon salt. Mix well, and leave sitting at room temperature for at least an hour and up to 2 hours, mixing occasionally.
- Step 3
Combine 3 tablespoons butter and 1 of olive oil in a very large pan. Once butter is melted, add chopped onion, garlic, remaining celery and combined sage, rosemary and thyme, and mix well. Cook over medium heat, stirring regularly, until onion is just translucent. If it starts to brown or stick, add a few drops of water. Add all diced mushrooms, and stir occasionally, cooking 15-25 minutes until the mushrooms’ liquid has all emerged and evaporated. Add 2 teaspoons salt. Mix through, add white wine and cook for another minute. Turn off heat. Add parsley/celery leaves and crème fraîche, and mix through. Remove to a bowl, and refrigerate.
- Step 4
Rinse spinach in a large colander. Put a large pan over medium-high heat. Cook spinach in batches with only the water clinging to the leaves until they are completely wilted. Remove to a colander to cool. Put the spinach in a strong clean kitchen cloth, and squeeze well, until completely dry. Put leaves through a food processor until very well chopped (or chop finely by hand). In a small pan, heat 5 tablespoons butter in 1 tablespoon olive oil until butter has just begun to brown. Add chopped spinach and nutmeg. Add 1 teaspoon sea salt, then sherry. Cook a few moments, until sherry is absorbed. Turn off heat. Add Parmesan and mix.
- Step 5
Preheat oven to 350. Lightly butter a 6- or 7-inch springform pan. Make sure the cabbage leaves are very dry. Put the prettiest cabbage leaf in the bottom of the pan, spreading it into a single layer. Trim any stem/central vein that overhangs. Use 5-7 more leaves to line the sides, pressing some of each leaf carefully into the bottom of the pan and the rest up the pan’s side. There should be some leaf remaining overhanging the top. Continue, lightly overlapping the leaves, until sides are covered. Put a third of the mushroom mixture into the food processor, and blend to semi-smooth. Mix back into the rest of the mushrooms. Spread half the mushroom mixture evenly into the bottom of the pan, over the cabbage. Cover with an even layer of half the spinach. Drain the cabbage-celery slaw very well, pressing all the liquid. Spread the very dry slaw over the cabbage. Repeat with the remaining spinach, and then the remaining mushrooms. Cover the mushrooms with 1-3 more cabbage leaves, in a very thin layer, trimming to fit if necessary. Fold overhanging leaves to cover the bottom. Dot with remaining butter, divided. Put into the middle of the oven. Bake 30 minutes. Remove from oven, and let sit to cool for 5-10 minutes.
- Step 6
Put a large plate over the cake pan. Invert the pan, and release the springform sides. Carefully remove the sides and top. Let the finished dish cool a few minutes more, then cut with a very sharp knife. Serve immediately, alone, or with a dollop of crème fraîche or ricotta on each serving.
Private Notes
Cooking Notes
That is exactly how I would approach it. Given that refrigerating it overnight will leave it deeply chilled, I would expect that the cooking time would have to increase significantly. Go with a 300 degree oven to avoid browning the pale green cabbage leaves and bake for 50-60 minutes. Start checking temp at 50 minutes looking for an internal temp of 125-135; rest for at least 10 minutes to rehydrate. Serve with fresh tomato/basil concasse and extra Parmesan. (And 2 oz. Pernod in the mushrooms.)
Fantastic! I did make some changes:
A) Cut the butter back to a total of 4T and the olive oil to 4t. It was creamy and delicious and the brown butter flavor was still prominent and luscious.
B) Bumped up the flavor in the saute: used fennel fronds and fresh dill in addition to the parsley leaves, and used more like 1/2 cup total fresh herbs; diced the thin fennel stalks and used along with the diced celery; added pepper. Finally, used a combo of spinach, baby kale, and baby chard for the greens.
this is a very unique interesting sling dish. to make it a bit more substantial but still meatless, I think some french lentils could be added with the mushrooms.
I'm interested in making this. Does anyone have experience in constructing it on day one then baking it just before dinner on day two? If so, how did it turn out?
Use about a pound and a half
I often use soaked ground pine nuts in place of Parm. To intensify the flavor, add either a bit of miso, or finely grated lemon rind and juice (what I'd try first here) or nutritional yeast.
Alternately you could try some smashed white beans cooked in a good broth or in olive oil and deglazed w white wine for extra flavor. I sometimes add onion jam or puréed browned shallots but that seems like it would be overkill here.
It would be fine and great without the cheese. Just eliminate it. And all the butter can be oil.
Hi,
To rest something means it's out of the oven (off the heat whatever) and allowed to just sit to let the moisture/juices redistribute. It's an osmosis thing.
Hope that helps.
This was worth the effort and that's all it is - no part of this recipe is difficult, just a little time consuming. That noted I do have 2 suggestions: 1) recognize (as I did not) that this is a relatively tiny dish, not one for a large group. I made it for our dinner and my boyfriend had no trouble eating 3/4 of it. 2) choose a large head of cabbage. While the outer leaves peel off nicely and remain intact, the inner leaves are more tightly layered and many of mine tore.
Just served this dish yesterday and want to pass on some notes. First, yes 2 lbs of mushrooms and 2 lbs of greens plus a bunch of celery really will fit into a 7" springform pan, although rather than the prescribed 9-10 cups of mushrooms, we would suggest only 8 cups. We cut the Chartreuse into 8 slices, but I think those were generous portions and could have been smaller. I was concerned that it wouldn't hold together with no real binding agent, but that was not an issue at all.
This dish is definitely worth the effort. I recommend using a food processor to finely chop the mushrooms before cooking. But the julienne cut on the celery is not a step you can abbreviate without sacrificing some of the delicacy of the dish. I wish I could give this recipe more than 5 stars. This is hands down the best thing I have ever eaten!! And so nutritious!
Nutritional yeast is a good cheese substitute. It has a nutty, cheesy flavor.
Mine didn't come out quite as pretty as the picture but it was still very attractive. The flavors on this were divine - don't skimp on the sherry and parmesan. Even though I chopped and diced everything the night before, the day-of process was a little over four hours end to end, so save this one for a weekend. (And am I the only one who missed where the finely diced celery was supposed to go in?)
My daughter made this for Thanksgiving & it was the best thing I ever ate in my 75 years on this earth! It was a slice of heaven.
I only had a 10” springform and I don’t recommend it as the layers weren’t thick enough. IF I make this again (because it’s an insane amount of chopping) I will substitute something else for the slaw layer which was uninteresting. Dice all the celery and add to mushrooms. Recommend doing all the chopping the day before. But it’s visually impressive.
Mine didn't come out quite as pretty as the picture but it was still very attractive. The flavors on this were divine - don't skimp on the sherry and parmesan. Even though I chopped and diced everything the night before, the day-of process was a little over four hours end to end, so save this one for a weekend. (And am I the only one who missed where the finely diced celery was supposed to go in?)
Did this vegan by using olive oil instead of butter and simply omitting the cream and parmesan cheese, and it still tasted really good. Might try to add some nutritional yeast next time. Kept leftovers in fridge, sliced and fried in butter and served with parmesan on top next day for a non-vegan meal. That was really good.
This dish is definitely worth the effort. I recommend using a food processor to finely chop the mushrooms before cooking. But the julienne cut on the celery is not a step you can abbreviate without sacrificing some of the delicacy of the dish. I wish I could give this recipe more than 5 stars. This is hands down the best thing I have ever eaten!! And so nutritious!
Does anyone actually have experience assembling a day ahead snd cooking just before serving?
Omitted the parmesan cheese and used a butter substitute as well.It was delicious but of course requires many hours of chopping. I made two of them because I understand it freezes well.Will bring back to room temperature and warm up at a low temperature to prevent the cabbage leaves from disintegrating. Could be served with a handmade mayonnaise as a sauce.
This was worth the effort and that's all it is - no part of this recipe is difficult, just a little time consuming. That noted I do have 2 suggestions: 1) recognize (as I did not) that this is a relatively tiny dish, not one for a large group. I made it for our dinner and my boyfriend had no trouble eating 3/4 of it. 2) choose a large head of cabbage. While the outer leaves peel off nicely and remain intact, the inner leaves are more tightly layered and many of mine tore.
I made this as the vegetarian main dish for a dinner party. It is worth the time and effort, and will probably be a staple at my Thanksgiving table, plus any time I need a stunning vegetarian main.
Just served this dish yesterday and want to pass on some notes. First, yes 2 lbs of mushrooms and 2 lbs of greens plus a bunch of celery really will fit into a 7" springform pan, although rather than the prescribed 9-10 cups of mushrooms, we would suggest only 8 cups. We cut the Chartreuse into 8 slices, but I think those were generous portions and could have been smaller. I was concerned that it wouldn't hold together with no real binding agent, but that was not an issue at all.
Awesome recipe. I would add a bit of heat as well
How many pounds of mushrooms will yield 9-10 cups finely diced?
Use about a pound and a half
Fantastic! I did make some changes:
A) Cut the butter back to a total of 4T and the olive oil to 4t. It was creamy and delicious and the brown butter flavor was still prominent and luscious.
B) Bumped up the flavor in the saute: used fennel fronds and fresh dill in addition to the parsley leaves, and used more like 1/2 cup total fresh herbs; diced the thin fennel stalks and used along with the diced celery; added pepper. Finally, used a combo of spinach, baby kale, and baby chard for the greens.
Randy, forgive my ignorance. When you advise to "rest for at least ten minutes" please educate me. What does that mean, and how does that rehydrate?
Hi,
To rest something means it's out of the oven (off the heat whatever) and allowed to just sit to let the moisture/juices redistribute. It's an osmosis thing.
Hope that helps.
It would be interesting to see this recipe nudged a little further for vegans.
I am wondering on this too. I'd like to remove the cheese. Any thoughts as to what could replace it? I am assuming that just removing it would remove the adhesiveness of the dish. Suggestions?
I often use soaked ground pine nuts in place of Parm. To intensify the flavor, add either a bit of miso, or finely grated lemon rind and juice (what I'd try first here) or nutritional yeast.
Alternately you could try some smashed white beans cooked in a good broth or in olive oil and deglazed w white wine for extra flavor. I sometimes add onion jam or puréed browned shallots but that seems like it would be overkill here.
It would be fine and great without the cheese. Just eliminate it. And all the butter can be oil.
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