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Savoy Cabbage and Italian Ham Salad

There are hundreds of varieties of cabbage available now.

They roughly break down into two categories – soft, such as Chinese pak choi or the firmer types, such as savoy.

Savoy is particularly satisfying to cook and eat as it is extremely versatile – its marked cabbagy flavour is not bitter, but is robust enough to combine well with other ingredients. The darker outer leaves need to have the tough central spine removed before cooking – the Italians would always blanch them for a few minutes first before adding to recipes, but this is not really necessary, especially if you would like to preserve a degree of crunch. Which brought me to the following salad, brilliant as a winter starter. Be sure to shred the leaves very finely and use roughly equal quantities of meat to cabbage. The choice of cured meat is up to you – I have said “ham” but you could equally use cured beef (bresaola) or even a smoked chicken or duck.

Serves 6

* 1 very fresh Savoy Cabbage * approx 500g ham – see above * salt and pepper * the best aged balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil you have juice of 1 lemon lots of parmesan for shaving

Remove the outer dark leaves of the cabbage and use them in another recipe. Cut the heart of the cabbage in half through the root and then shred very finely into long strips. Season the cabbage with salt and pepper and drizzle over the oil and vinegar. Cut the ham into 1cm slices and toss through the cabbage with the lemon juice.

At the last minute, shave in lots of parmesan and mix through. Serve immediately.