Boxty with Cabbage and Bacon

by Cherie Denham and Andrew Montgomery, featured in The Irish Kitchen

Published by Montgomery Press

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Introduction

These are a traditional potato pancake, originally created in the Irish home, where potatoes were a staple. Enjoyed throughout Ireland, boxty are so versatile and can be eaten at any time of day, often served in pubs with bacon and eggs, cabbage and bacon or poached haddock and parsley sauce. Each family would have their own method of making boxty; there are no hard and fast rules. Some are made only with raw potato, known as Donegal Boxty, and others are made from a mixture of raw and cooked potato, called Leitrim Boxty. In this recipe, I whizz the potatoes in the food processor with flour and milk to make a batter. Don’t let the batter hang around too long or it will go black. It’s personal choice how thick you make your boxty; in our house we like ours quite thin. The perfect breakfast at any time but especially on St Patrick’s Day. My Granny Marshall always drank the cabbage water - she said it was great for your skin.

For US measures and ingredient names, use the toggle at the top of the ingredients list.

As featured in

The Irish Kitchen

Image of Cherie Denham's Boxty — Photo by Andrew Montgomery

Ingredients

Makes: 4 large pancakes

Metric U.S.

1 savoy cabbage (greenest leaves only)
450 grams floury potatoes (washed and skins left on)
85 grams plain flour
150 millilitres milk
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
25 grams unsalted butter
2 tablespoons rapeseed oil
12 rashers streaky bacon
Maldon sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper

1 savoy cabbage (greenest leaves only)
1 pound mealy potatoes (washed and skins left on)
⅔ cup all-purpose flour
scant ⅔ cup milk
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
1 ounce unsalted butter
2 tablespoons rapeseed oil
12 rashers bacon
soft sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper

Method

Boxty with Cabbage and Bacon is a guest recipe by Cherie Denham and Andrew Montgomery so we are not able to answer questions regarding this recipe

Remove the stalks from the cabbage leaves, then finely slice the leaves. Bring a saucepan of salted water to the boil and cook the cabbage for 3-4 minutes, depending on how soft you like your cabbage. Drain and plunge into cold water. Keep the water running over the cabbage until it’s completely cold. Drain well.
Chop the potatoes (with their skins on) and place in a food processor. Blend the raw potatoes to a puree, then add the flour, milk, salt and pepper. Pulse to bring the mixture together.
Heat a little of the butter and oil in a frying pan over a medium heat. Once foaming, ladle in some of the mixture and spread over the base of the pan. Cook gently for 4-5 minutes on each side until golden brown. Remove from the pan and continue with the remaining batter. Layer up the pancakes with baking parchment and keep warm wrapped in more baking parchment while you cook the rest.
Add 1 tablespoon of oil to a separate frying pan and fry the streaky bacon until golden and crisp. Lift the streaky bacon from the pan and slice into thin pieces.
Place the cabbage in the streaky bacon pan with the remaining butter and cook until heated through, then add the streaky bacon and toss through. Remove from the heat.
Place some cabbage and streaky bacon onto a boxty pancake, roll up and serve.

Remove the stalks from the cabbage leaves, then finely slice the leaves. Bring a saucepan of salted water to the boil and cook the cabbage for 3-4 minutes, depending on how soft you like your cabbage. Drain and plunge into cold water. Keep the water running over the cabbage until it’s completely cold. Drain well.
Chop the potatoes (with their skins on) and place in a food processor. Blend the raw potatoes to a puree, then add the flour, milk, salt and pepper. Pulse to bring the mixture together.
Heat a little of the butter and oil in a frying pan over a medium heat. Once foaming, ladle in some of the mixture and spread over the base of the pan. Cook gently for 4-5 minutes on each side until golden brown. Remove from the pan and continue with the remaining batter. Layer up the pancakes with baking parchment and keep warm wrapped in more baking parchment while you cook the rest.
Add 1 tablespoon of oil to a separate frying pan and fry the bacon until golden and crisp. Lift the bacon from the pan and slice into thin pieces.
Place the cabbage in the bacon pan with the remaining butter and cook until heated through, then add the bacon and toss through. Remove from the heat.
Place some cabbage and bacon onto a boxty pancake, roll up and serve.