Pork and chestnut parcels with parsley sauce
On cooler spring days, Rosa Matto finds comfort in these pork and chestnut parcels, with a vibrant green parsley sauce.
Makes 6
12 leaves of savoy cabbage
1 tbsp unsalted butter
1 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
200g Barossa speck, coarsely minced
500g pork and veal mince
1 tbsp caraway seeds
250ml dry white wine
½ cup chopped parsley
200g chestnuts, boiled and peeled
salt and pepper
melted butter, extra
quark cheese and cracked black pepper, for serving
Bring a medium saucepan of salted water to the boil and blanch the cabbage leaves for a few minutes. Drain and then plunge them into a bowl of cold water and dry on a tea towel. Remove the tough central spine and pair two up so there is no gap.
Heat the butter and oil in a large frypan, and sauté the onion until very soft, but not coloured. Add the garlic, speck and mince in three batches and cook until golden and fragrant. Remove to a bowl. Briefly toast the caraway seeds in the same frypan, add to the meat. Allow the pan to heat up again and pour in all the wine, scraping up any residue on the bottom of the pan. Reduce the wine to a few tablespoons and add to the meat.
Mix through the parsley and chopped up chestnuts. Taste for seasoning. Divide into 6 even portions.
Set out the savoy cabbage leaves in 6 piles and put in one portion of filling in the cente. Bring up the edges of the cabbage and shape into a round. Put onto a baking tray, brush with the extra melted butter and bake at 190C for 12 minutes or until golden.
When ready to serve, pour some parsley cream on individual plates, set on a cabbage parcel and top with quark and cracked black pepper.
for parsley cream
1 clove garlic, peeled but left whole
250ml cream
1 cup flatleaf parsley, washed and dried
salt and white pepper
Take all the parsley leaves off the stems and set aside. Place the garlic in a saucepan with the cream and allow to come just under boiling. Allow to infuse for 15 minutes.
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Remove the garlic and discard. Re-warm the cream and put in the parsley leaves.
Blend in a powerful blender until smooth. Season with salt and white pepper.
Can be made a day in advance and gently reheated.
This recipe first appeared in the July 2025 issue of SALIFE magazine.
