This recipe comes from my friend the brilliant French chef Michel Richard. He frequently uses curry powder as a seasoning for mushrooms. In the quantity called for here, you don’t so much taste it as notice the complexity it brings to the mushrooms. If you don’t have any hazelnut oil, you can use olive oil instead.
MAKES 12 ROLLS
1–3 |
heads Savoy cabbage (enough for 12 large leaves) |
1 |
tablespoon hazelnut oil or olive oil |
2 |
pounds mixed mushrooms (button, shiitake and portabello), finely chopped |
1 |
teaspoon curry powder |
|
Salt and freshly ground pepper |
1 |
tablespoon olive oil, plus more for the baking dish |
1 |
onion, minced |
2 |
garlic cloves, chopped |
2 |
cups chicken broth |
Remove the outer leaves of the cabbage, choosing 12 of the largest. Blanch the leaves in plenty of rapidly boiling salted water just until they soften, about 2 minutes. Immediately remove them from the water and shock them in a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking. Press them dry between paper towels. Cut away the thick white spine from the center of each leaf and set the leaves aside.
Chop enough of the inner cabbage leaves to make 2 cups.
Heat the hazelnut oil in a large skillet over medium heat. When it is hot, add the mushrooms and curry powder and cook, stirring, until the mushrooms soften, about 5 minutes. Season with ¾ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper, or to taste, and set aside to cool briefly.
Heat the oven to 325 degrees and grease a 9-by-13-inch glass baking dish with olive oil. Spread one of the blanched cabbage leaves flat on a work surface with the outside of the leaf facing down. Season it lightly with salt and pepper. Spoon about 3 tablespoons of the cooked mushroom mixture into the middle of the leaf and wrap the leaf around it to make a little package. Place it seam side down in the baking dish. Repeat until you have 12 little packages in the baking dish. Wipe out the skillet.
Heat the olive oil in the skillet. Add the onion and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, chopped cabbage and chicken broth and bring to a simmer. Cover and cook until fragrant, about 20 minutes.
Let the mixture cool slightly. Ladle the mixture into a food processor and puree it, then pour it over the cabbage rolls. Bake, uncovered, until the rolls become firm, about 1 hour, occasionally spooning the cooking juices over the top. Serve.