“Tatin” of Apples, Onions, Cabbage and Sausage
Praising April? It has been a particularly difficult month, battering us with snow, rain, ice, high winds and unusually high doses of anxiety.
In periods of difficulty, I retreat to my kitchen to bake and I was going to make a cake, but whiIe leafing through an old French cooking magazine, I discovered a very unusual recipe: a “Tatin” of apples with a filling of onions, cabbage and ground sausage meat. I was intrigued. I love apples and any kind of cabbage, the mixture of sweet/salted appealed to me, and I had all the ingredients on hand in my refrigerator so I could get at it right away, before I changed my mind.
It did not disappoint me. The taste is unusual but these are unusual times. I think it would be a perfect first course, with a side of arugula and endive salad, or served as an appetizer.
“Tatin” of Apples, Onions, Cabbage and Sausage
Ingredients
- 5 Apples (semi-firm like Pink Ladies or Fuji)
- 1 sheet frozen puff pastry
- ¾ lb. of ground sausage meat (regular or vegetarian)
- ¼ of a green cabbage
- 1 onion (yellow or red)
- 1 shallot
- 2 garlic cloves
- 4-5 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp sugar
- A sprinkle of nutmeg
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Cut and discard the hard core from the cabbage leaves. Blanch them in boiling salted water for up to ten minutes or until tender but still holding a slight crunch. When cooked, strain and chop. Set aside.
- Peel the onion and shallot, chop them finely and sautée them in a tablespoon of regular oil on a medium heat until cooked but not colored. Add the grated garlic, the ground sausage meat and cook for a few minutes.
- Add the chopped cabbage and cook for ten more minutes then sprinkle nutmeg and mix.
- Melt the butter in a cast iron skillet. Sprinkle the sugar on top.
- Peel and core the apples, Cut them in quarters and cut each quarter in half again.
- Dispose the apple slices in a rosace pattern on the melted butter/sugar mixture. Cook them on top of the stove for ten minutes.
- Pour the cabbage/onion mix on top of the apples.
- Cover the skillet with the round puff pastry sheet, defrosted and unrolled.
- Tuck the extra dough inside the edge of the skillet.
- Prick the dough in several places with a fork.
- Bake at 350 degree F, on the lower three tier of the oven for 30 to 40 minutes or until the crust is nicely golden and crisp.
- Take the skillet out of the oven, place a large serving plate on top of it and with a quick flip of the arm, reverse the pan unto the plate. The apples will be on top.
- Serve right away.