Layered Casserole with Beef, Cabbage & Potato
- About a dozen large fresh sage leaves
- 1/4 cup fresh rosemary leaves, stripped from the branch
- 8 plump garlic cloves, peeled
- 2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt
- 2 pounds red potatoes, sliced 1/2 inch thick
- A 4-pound boneless beef shoulder roast (preferably a top blade or top chuck shoulder roast)
- 1 stick (8 tablespoons) soft butter
- 1 head Savoy cabbage, about 2 1/2 pounds, cored and sliced into 1/2-inch shreds
- 2 cups white wine
- 1 pound shredded fontina from Valle dAosta (or Italian Fontal; see box, page 74)
- A food processor; a large baking dish or roasting pan, 5-quart capacity, 10 by 15 inches or larger
- Arrange a rack in the middle of the oven, and heat to 425.
- Using a food processor, mince the sage, rosemary, garlic, 1/4 cup of the olive oil, and 1/2 teaspoon of the salt into a fine-textured pestata.
- Put the potato slices in a large bowl; sprinkle on top 1 teaspoon salt, 2 tablespoons olive oil, and 1 tablespoon of the pestata.
- Toss well to coat the slices with the seasonings.
- With a sharp knife, slice the beef across the grain into 3/4-inch-thick slicesif using a top-blade roast, slice it crosswise.
- As you did with the potatoes, put the meat slices in a bowl and toss them with seasonings until well coated, using 1 teaspoon salt, 2 tablespoons olive oil, and 2 tablespoons of the pestata.
- Brush the roasting pan with the remaining olive oil and 2 tablespoons of the butter.
- Arrange half of the potato slices in a single layer on the pan bottom, spread half the cabbage shreds evenly over the potatoes, and season with 1 teaspoon salt.
- Distribute all the beef slices, in a single layer, over the cabbage.
- (The pan should be about half full: press down on the beef if it looks like you need more room for the rest of the vegetables.)
- Dot the top of the beef with small mounds of butter, using another 3 tablespoons in all.
- Lay the remaining potato slices on top of the beef slices, spread the rest of the cabbage evenly over the slices, and season with the remaining teaspoon of salt.
- Stir all of the remaining pestata into the white wine, and pour the wine all over the cabbage shreds.
- Finally, dot the top with the rest of the butter.
- Tent the baking dish with a sheet of aluminum foil, arching it above the food and pressing it against the sides of the pan.
- Set the dish in the oven, and bake about 2 1/2 hours, until the meat and vegetables are all very tender and almost all of the liquid has been absorbed.
- Remove the foil, and sprinkle the shredded fontina over the top of the potatoes and cabbage (which will have sunk down in the pan).
- Bake another 15 to 20 minutes, until the fontina has melted, bubbled, and browned into a crusty topping.
- Let the casserole rest for 10 minutes.
- Set the roasting pan on a trivet at the table, and serve family-style, spooned onto dinner plates.
sage, rosemary, garlic, extravirgin olive oil, kosher salt, red potatoes, butter, savoy cabbage, white wine, daosta, baking dish
Taken from www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/layered-casserole-with-beef-cabbage-potato-372270 (may not work)