Leeks with Chevre
This was shamelessly stolen from Molto Mario. Though simple, the flavors meld in a way that’s much more than the sum of the parts.
6 cabbage leaves
6 leeks
6 discs of dryish chevre
olive oil
salt
pepper
Choose large, green cabbage leaves. Blanch them for a minute or so until they are soft enough to roll. Set aside.
Trim and wash the leeks, then halve them lengthwise. Place a leek, opened up, on a cabbage leaf, drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper, then roll the leek up in the leaf. Do this for all the leeks. Place the rolls into a VERY hot oven or broiler and cook, turning occasionally, until the cabbage leaves are charred on all sides. Peel off the charred cabbage and discard. Arrange the leeks on a serving plate like wagon wheel spokes.
When the leeks are done, heat some olive oil in a saute pan until it’s nearly smoking, then toss in the chevre discs. You want them to crust, not melt (thus, the preference for a dryish chevre). Crust both sides. This should only take a few seconds. Put a chevre disk between each leek spoke. Drizzle the dish with the olive oil you used to fry the cheese. This dish has about four million calories.