2021 Tour de France - Stage 16: Pas de la Casa to Saint-Gaudens
After the final rest day of the tour, the riders are heading out of Andorra and back into France. They continue to move along the southern border in a westward manner, trekking across the remainder of the Languedoc-Roussillion region and into the Midi-Pyrénées. There’s a dish you’ve probably heard of from two other countries, Colcannon of Ireland or Bubble and Squeak of England. Well, SW France and Andorra also have a version of this dish and it is ding-dang delicious (that’s totally a culinary term, by the way). It is called Trinxat and the recipe is below. I was stunned to find that my local Wegmans deli actually had whole pancetta, not just the diced stuff. Nothing good can come of this! If you can’t find pancetta, just use thinly-sliced bacon.
Trinxat from Williams Sonoma
Olive oil
1 large leek, white and light green part only
2 russet potatoes
Small head of dark green Napa cabbage
1/2 lb thinly sliced rounds of pancetta (or thinly-sliced bacon)
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
Sea salt and black pepper
Fresh thyme leaves
Trim and halve your leeks and run them under water to remove any dirt. Thinly slice the leek halves and reserve. Peel your potatoes and cut into medium dice.
Preheat 3 tbsp of olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When the oil shimmers, add in the leeks and potatoes with a pinch of sea salt. Sauté until starting to brown.
Meanwhile, remove the outer leaves and core of the cabbage. Cut into bite-sized pieces. Toss into the browning leeks and cover with water (6-8 cups). Heavily salt the mixture, stir and bring to a boil. Then cover and turn the heat to low and simmer for about 15 minutes, until the potatoes have softened. Drain the contents into a colander and reserve.
Wipe out the pan so there are no bits stuck to the bottom. Reserve 6 slices of pancetta and cut the remainder into thin strips, about ½-inch, and place them into the cleaned-out skillet and cook over medium heat. Once the fat starts to melt from the pancetta into the pan (a couple of minutes), toss in the garlic. Stir to combine and occasionally, until the garlic starts to take on some color. Then, add the cabbage-potato mixture back into the skillet. Season with salt and heavily with black pepper. Stir occasionally, cooking over low heat, for another 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a small non-stick skillet, cook the reserved 6 rounds of pancetta. Flip once the bottom shrivels up and becomes crispy. Then cook briefly on the other side, until just crisp. Place on a paper towel to drain off the fat.
Check the cabbage for any seasoning needs (it will more than likely need a bit of salt). Give a final stir, and spoon onto plates. Garnish each plate with a pancetta crisp, some fresh thyme leaves, and more sea salt.
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Copyright 2021, Brendan McCann, All Rights Reserved.
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