Cavolo Nero

When I sat down to start writing this blog, I'd just finished cooking this really simple dish.  As it was exam time, I didn't give it the attention it deserves, but it was truly delicious.  It definitely needs some work, but with a few more attempts it really could be something perfect.

Ingredients

3 cloves of garlic, chopped

Olive oil

3 Tomatoes, de-seeded and chopped

2 small red peppers

4 or 5 spring onions

Prawns (I used two packets from Sainsbury's, which comes to about 500g)

Cavolo Nero (Black Cabbage) with the stalks removed and cut into strips.

Italian White Wine

Paprika

Salt & Black Pepper

Pasta

1. Coat the prawns in Paprika (to taste) and leave to marinade.
2. In a frying pan, on a medium-low heat, throw in a generous glug of olive oil, and 2 finely chopped cloves of garlic
3. Once that's done, add the cavolo nero.  Coat all the leaves in the garlic oil, and add more olive oil if necessary.  Cover it with a lid and leave it quietly cook for 30 minutes or so, stirring occasionally.  Once it's done, pull it from the heat, but keep the lid on to keep it warm.
4. Meanwhile, for the sauce, put into a medium-hot pan; the spring onions, roughly chopped; the tomatoes; and the red peppers, chopped nice and finely.
5. Once this starts to break down, add in the white wine - about the amount of a large glass of wine. Turn up the heat and stir together.
6. Once it's reduced by half add the prawns, and season with salt and pepper.  The prawns don't need much time at all, just until they turn a nice pink colour.  If you're prawns are already cooked - pink in the packet, rather than grey, bare in mind that you're just warming them through.  The last thing you want is tough prawns.
7. To serve, place a bed of cavolo nero at the bottom, of a dish, then the pasta, before finally topping it with a generous amount of prawns and sauce.  

I loved this dish, and it didn't take long to prepare at all.  It's hardly festive, I admit, but it's worth a go. Maybe worth considering as a starter, minus the pasta?  Let me know what you think.