I love Wirsing, which would be "Savoy Cabbage" in the US. Great texture, great flavour, that is not as intensely cabbagey as some other veggies out there and more nut-tasting.
It can easily stand out with fried bacon & onion, be entirely happy in a stew with grapes and pears to accompany a piece of pork loin, and be a wonderful casing for mushroom-dumplings..
Another great way to deal with this cabbage is to blanch the leaves, fill them with ground hazelnuts and Gruyère pieces, roll the leaves individually up and lay them out next to each other in a baking pan, make a nice, fresh, savory tomatosauce, pour it over the cabbage rolls & bake this whole thing for about 20 minutes at estimated 425 deg F. This gives a really nice, late summer, early fall appetizer, that brings out the best in savoy cabbage.
I just recreated this dish, much simpler, and almost as amazing: fry half a chopped red onion in a little bit olive oil, and add early on ground hazelnuts; let them roast and fry a little, then add a third chopped savoy cabbage, and two tomatoes in big pieces. Add salt and pepper, a little water, and put a lid on for about 10 minutes. Lower the heat a little to let the vegetable steam lightly. Check back early to make sure that the cabbage retains some crispiness and keeps the nice color.
I just ate three plates of this (the last is on the photo), after grating a special cheese over the steaming hazelnut-veggie: Kaltbach, from Switzerland, lets Gruyère mature in a sandstone cave close to Lucerne for an extended period to a creamy flavorful nuttiness.
The cheese makes the savoy cabbage promote its own nut-aspects, and so do the roasted hazelnuts. The onion supports the savoriness of the whole dish, and the tomatoes bring in the acidity of the late summer.
That is Savoy cabbage style savoir vivre.
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