A Little Green Can Brighten Up Your Day

A question I am often asked is “What do you normally eat Springvales, a so-called Vietnamese suburb in Melbourne?” My answer surely surprises a lot of you guys. I don’t normally eat there since I don’t really like MSG loaded food. But I love all the Asian groceries in Springvales. They have tons of fresh Asian vegetables and herbs on offer at very reasonable price. Some of the seafood there is excellent, too, although you need to be very careful to correctly choose the Australian products…

This Mustard Cabbage must be one of my favourite Asian greens ever. In Vietnamese cooking, the thick ribs are widely used in pickling (it’s then called Dưa cải muối). The pickling products are then served as condiment or used in stir-fry or soup.

In fresh form, mustard cabbage has the mustardy tang that some do not like. I, however, love such flavorful taste so I don’t normally blanch them before cooking. The best way to enjoy mustard cabbage, in my opinion, is quickly stir-frying them with garlic and light soy sauce. This way of cooking really captures the flavours of the veg, while maintaining the crispiness of the stalks.

Today however I decide to use mustard cabbage in a rather non-Asian way. I pair it with fresh ricotta cheese! Here in my stuffed pasta dish, mustard green is used in replacement of the usual spinach. While some of the crunchiness and flavours are kind of lost after blanching the leaves, I reserve some of the diced ribs and only add them towards the final steps. This adds the crispiness texture to the final dish, which I think it is rather pleasant.

Of course the same technique can be used if you get your hand on similar greens, like broccoli rabe for instance.

Pasta Shell Stuffed with Mustard Cabbage and Ricotta Cheese

Ingredients (for four portions)

1 bunch of mustard cabbage, separate stalks and wash

1clove garlic

300g fresh ricotta cheese

About 25 large pasta shells

1 bottle (600g) of good quality passata

1 cup vegetable or chicken stock

Finely grated parmesan cheese

Chopped roasted pistachio (optional)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180C, Oil shallow ovenproof dish.
2. Cook pasta in large saucepan of salted boiling water fir 3 mins. Drain and cool for 10 mins.
3. Reserve some large stalks. Quickly blanch the mustard cabbage then drained. Chopped and combine with ricotta cheese. Dice the reserved stalks and garlic, and add to the ricotta mixture. Check seasoning.
   
4. Stuff the mixture into the pasta shells.
5. Combine the stock with the sauce, pour into the ovenproof dish. Place the pasta shells on top, sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Bake, covered, for about 1 hour until the pasta is tender. Serve hot with some chopped pistachio.

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I am submitting this dish to Weekend Herb Blogging, an event created by Kalyn. This week, our host is Simona from Briciole. Head to their blogs for a fabulous roundup!