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Have you ever cooked something regularly in your own way, only to be totally blown away by a simple change in the method of preparation? That’s what happened to me when I picked up a head of Savoy cabbage which was on sale (yay! It’s hardly ever on sale compared to its supermarket shelf companions – the green and red cabbages). I normally saute cabbage or shred it for making salads, but this time around I chanced across a German recipe for Wirsing mit Sahnesoße and decided to AIP-fy it. The end result was so comforting and delicious, and an absolute breeze to make using my Instant Pot pressure cooker. Four minutes of active cooking time for a whole head of cabbage, how can you beat that? Best of all, it was so easy to eat, my kids were simply gulping down spoon after spoon of vegetable goodness!
I used lardons to add a savoury depth to the sweet Savoy cabbage (savoury, Savoy. Try saying that 10 times fast) and blanched them in boiling water to get rid of excess salt before frying with the onions, but diced bacon would be more than perfect. German recipes commonly feature nutmeg but since it’s off limits when on strict AIP as it’s a seed-based spice, feel free to substitute with ground mace instead, which is the covering of the nutmeg seed and AIP-friendly.
The inner pot of the Instant Pot pressure cooker was pretty full once the entire chopped cabbage was added, so I did the same trick with a parchment round for my pressure cooker applesauce and covered the cabbage with the parchment round before sealing the lid. This helps to intensify the flavour and prevent a mess on the underside of the lid while cooking under pressure. No pressure cooker? This can also be made on the stove in a heavy-bottomed pot. See my notes below for the recipe.
The family really enjoyed this cabbage dish, I will definitely be making this more often. What’s your preferred method of preparing cabbage?
- 1 cup bacon/ lardons, diced
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 cups bone broth
- 1 medium head Savoy cabbage, chopped finely (about 2lb)
- ¼ tsp mace (Use nutmeg if you have reintroduced this successfully while on the AIP)
- ½ can or 200ml coconut milk (scant 1 cup)
- 1 bay leaf
- Sea salt, to taste
- 2 tbsp parsley flakes
- Prepare a parchment round by tracing around the inner pot on a piece of parchment paper and then cutting it out
- Press 'Saute' and allow the inner pot to heat up
- Once 'Hot' is displayed, fry the bacon and onions in the inner pot until the bacon is crisp and the onions are lightly browned and translucent
- Add in the bone broth and scrape the bottom of the pot to remove any stuck browned bits
- Stir in the cabbage and bay leaf
- Cover with the parchment round and shut the lid, setting the sealing valve to 'sealing'
- Select 'Manual' and adjust the cooking time to 4 minutes
- Once the Instant Pot beeps at the end of the cooking cycle, press 'Keep warm/ cancel' and release the pressure before uncovering and removing the parchment round
- Press 'Saute', bring to a boil and add in the mace or nutmeg and coconut milk
- Simmer for 5 minutes, then turn off the Instant Pot and stir in the parsley flakes before serving
Saute the bacon and onions until the bacon is crisp and the onions are lightly browned and translucent.
Add in the cabbage and bay leaf.
Add the bone broth and cover.
Simmer until the cabbage is cooked, about 20 minutes.
Stir in the coconut milk and simmer until slightly thickened.
Sprinkle the mace/ nutmeg and stir to incorporate. Adjust to taste with sea salt.
Add the parsley before serving.
Do you have any pictures to share of the parchment round that you described? i’m not sure I followed
Hi Shuchita, I hope the photo explains what I meant! You put it in at step 6 of the recipe.