Seasonal local food recipe No.217 – Baked cabbage with nuts and cheese

Known in our house as cabbage and peanut bake, this recipe is from an old Sainsbury’s cookbook, Vegetarian Meals by Rosamond Richardson.  It is a main course in its own right or could be served alongside another dish.   I first tried this recipe to see how the rather odd combination of ingredients worked and it has become a winter favourite.

Serves 2

Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 15-20 minutes

Ingredients
1 small white cabbage chopped fairly coarsely
300ml white sauce made with 40g butter, 2tbs plain flour and 300ml milk
50g salted peanuts, chopped
100g cheddar cheese, grated
nutmeg, finely grated
salt and pepper

Method
Boil the cabbage until it is cooked but still crunchy.  Thin out the white sauce with a little of the cooking water and season to taste with salt and pepper.  Make layers in a greased baking dish of cabbage, sauce, grated nutmeg, peanuts and grated cheese (I usually have two layers of each ingredient), finishing with grated cheese. Bake at Gas mark 6/200°C for 15-20 minutes or until the top is a golden brown.  I serve it with baked potatoes.