• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

For 6 servings

2 pounds green, red, or Savoy cabbage

½ cup chopped onion

½ cup extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon chopped garlic

Salt

Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill

1 tablespoon wine vinegar

1. Detach and discard the first few outer leaves of the cabbage. The remaining head of leaves must be shredded very fine. If you are going to do it by hand, cut the leaves into fine shreds, slicing them off the whole head. Turn the head after you have sliced a section of it until gradually you expose the entire core, which must be discarded. If you want to use the food processor, cut the leaves off from the core in sections, discard the core, and process the leaves through a shredding attachment.

2. Put the onion and olive oil into a large sauté pan, and turn the heat on to medium. Cook and stir the onion until it becomes colored a deep gold, then add the garlic. When you have cooked the garlic until it becomes colored a very pale gold, add the shredded cabbage. Turn the cabbage over 2 or 3 times to coat it well, and cook it until it is wilted.

3. Add salt, pepper, and the vinegar. Turn the cabbage over once completely, lower the heat to minimum, and cover the pan tightly. Cook for at least 1½ hours, or until it is very tender, turning it from time to time. If while it is cooking, the liquid in the pan should become insufficient, add 2 tablespoons water as needed. When done, taste and correct for salt and pepper. Allow it to settle a few minutes off heat before serving.

Braised Carrots with Parmesan Cheese

I KNOW of no other preparation in the Italian repertory, or in other cuisines, for that matter, more successful than this one in freeing the rich flavor that is locked inside the carrot. It does it by cooking the carrots slowly in no more liquid than is necessary to keep the cooking going so that they are wholly reduced to their essential elements of flavor. When cooked, they are tossed briefly over heat with grated Parmesan.

For 6 servings

1½ pounds carrots

4 tablespoons butter (½ stick)

Salt

¼ teaspoon sugar

3 tablespoons freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese

1. Peel the carrots, wash them in cold water, and slice them into ⅜ inch disks. The thin tapered ends can be cut thicker. Choose a saute pan that can contain the carrot rounds spread in a single snug layer, without overlapping. Put in the carrots and butter, and enough water to come ¼ inch up the sides. If you do not have a single pan large enough, use two smaller ones, dividing the carrots and butter equally between them. Turn on the heat to medium. Do not cover the pan.

2. Cook until the water has evaporated, then add salt and the ¼ teaspoon sugar. Continue cooking, adding from 2 to 3 tablespoons water as needed. Your objective is to end up with well-browned, wrinkled carrot disks, concentrated in flavor and texture. It will take between 1 and 1½ hours, during which time you must watch them, even while you do other things in the kitchen. Stop adding water when they begin to reach the wrinkled, browned stage, because there must be no liquid left at the end. In 30 minutes or a little more, the carrots will become so reduced in bulk that, if you have been using two pans, you will be able to combine them in a single pan.

3. When done—they should be very tender—add the grated Parmesan, turn the carrots over completely once or twice, transfer them to a warm platter, and serve at once.

Ahead-of-time note The carrots can be finished entirely in advance, except for the Parmesan, which you will add only when reheating, just before serving.

Braised Carrots with Capers

For 4 servings

1 pound choice young carrots

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon chopped garlic

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

Salt

Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill

2 tablespoons capers, soaked and rinsed if packed in salt, drained if in vinegar

1. Peel the carrots and wash them in cold water. They ought to be no thicker than your little finger. If they are not that size to