CABBAGE, BERBERE SPICE, CRUMBS

Toasted cabbage. Crisp crumbs. Green peas. • A crisp, rock hard-white cabbage is probably more suitable for roasting than an open-leaved dark green Savoy, which tends to cook to a crisp too easily. • This recipe works with Brussels sprouts too. Slice them thickly and lay them out on the baking sheet. The result will be messier to serve, but will taste just as good. • Berbere spice mixes are available from any major supermarket or speciality grocers. The mix is sweet and warm rather than hot and usually contains chilli, cumin, ginger, cardamom, nutmeg and fenugreek. Good for adding to melted butter and tossing with steamed long-grain rice or couscous.

Good

% Daily Values based on a 2,000 calorie diet

Step 1

Set the oven at 200°C/Gas 6. Slice the cabbage into 2cm-thick pieces and put them on a foil-lined baking sheet. Trickle over six tablespoons of the oil and bake for twenty-five minutes. Warm three tablespoons of the oil in a shallow pan, add the crumbs and toast them till golden, tossing them from time to time. Stir in the Berbere spice mix. In a food processor blend the peas with the remaining oil and the mint leaves until lightly chopped. Stir into the warm crumbs and let the peas thaw in the residual heat. Remove the cabbage from the oven, slide onto plates with a fish slice or palette knife, then scatter with the peas and crumbs.