Melting Cabbage

Vegetables in the Brassica family, including kale, collard greens and cabbage, are often described as humble. The hearty greens are popular in dishes from all over the world because they’re easy to grow and, therefore, less expensive than crops like bell peppers and tomatoes.

Although the concept of melting cabbage—cooking wedges in sauce to render them tender—is ancient, it’s also trendy. The taste of this melted cabbage is amazing enough that this may become one of your favorite cabbage recipes.

Melting Cabbage Ingredients

• Cabbage: This melted cabbage recipe is perfect for crisp, firm heads of green cabbage (the kind you’d expect to see as part of creamy coleslaw). More delicate cabbages, such as napa or savoy, don’t hold up as well here.
• Olive oil: Regular olive oil or extra virgin olive oil will work in this recipe, so use whatever you’ve got on hand. Grapeseed or sunflower would be fine cooking oils to use too.
• Aromatic vegetables: Onion and garlic are closely related, but since they have different and complementary flavors, we use both of them in the sauce for the cabbage. Yellows are a great type of onion for this dish.
• Chicken stock: Homemade chicken broth is always awesome when you have it, but if you don’t, there are plenty of great chicken broth brands at the store. In a pinch, you can use water, although the end result won’t be as flavorful.
• Salt and pepper: Useful in pretty much any dish, salt helps enhance all the flavors in this melting cabbage recipe, while black pepper adds zip.
• Dijon mustard: The piquant taste of Dijon mustard makes it a super partner for cabbage. If you don’t have Dijon, brown mustard is a better substitute than the more common yellow type.
• Other spices: To make the sauce flavorful, add caraway, a common aromatic in German and Scandinavian recipes. Bright-tasting coriander, which comes from the seed of the cilantro plant, balances the earthy grated nutmeg.
• Parmesan: A scattering of grated Parmesan cheese is the final touch. For best results, buy a chunk of Parm at the store and grate it yourself. As an alternative, an Alpine-style type of cheese such as Gruyere or Emmental would work nicely.

Directions

Step 1: Prep the cabbage

Preheat the oven to 375℉. Peel off any cabbage leaves that are damaged, and cut the head in half. Slice each half into four wedges. In a large, oven-safe skillet with a heavy bottom, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat until it shimmers.

Editor’s Tip: Cut the cabbage so that each slivered wedge contains some of the core.

Step 2: Sear the cabbage

Sear four of the cabbage wedges until browned on one side, around four minutes. Flip and sear for the same amount of time on the second side. Remove the seared wedges to a large plate or cookie sheet, and repeat with another tablespoon of oil and the remaining four sections of cabbage. Set aside.

Step 3: Make the sauce

Wipe the skillet dry and place the pan back on the stovetop over medium heat. Add the final tablespoon of oil. When it shimmers, add the onion. Cook, stirring regularly, until lightly browned, three to four minutes. Add the chicken stock, Dijon mustard, 1 teaspoon salt, coriander, caraway, pepper, nutmeg and garlic. Bring to a simmer and cook for three to four minutes. Transfer the sauce to a large heat-safe bowl.

Step 4: Bake the cabbage

Nestle the cabbage wedges in the skillet so that they are in as close to a single layer as possible. Sprinkle with the remaining 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and pour the sauce evenly over the wedges. Cover the pan with a lid or with foil, and place it in the oven. After 30 minutes, uncover the pan, flip the cabbage wedges and cook until the cabbage is easy to pierce with a fork, another 10 to 15 minutes. Garnish with Parmesan and return to the oven until the cheese is melted, two to three minutes. Serve.

Editor’s Tip: This recipe will yield tender and flavorful cabbage, but if you like your cabbage super melted, cook it covered for up to an hour before removing the foil or lid.

SARAH TRAMONTE FOR TASTE OF HOME

Melting Cabbage Variations

• Harness the flavors of corned beef: By swapping in beef stock for the chicken stock—as well as adding 1 tablespoon of pickling spice to the sauce instead of the pepper, coriander, caraway and nutmeg in the original recipe—you’ll give the cabbage a flavor that is reminiscent of the St. Patrick’s Day food favorite.
• Add some vino: Some white wine is a wonderful addition to the melting cabbage recipe. Add it to the pan when you add the chicken stock.
• Make it creamy: Want a richer dish? Add a couple of ample splashes of cream to the pan before you sprinkle on the Parmesan.

How to Store Melting Cabbage

Transfer extra wedges of garlic Parmesan melting cabbage to a food storage container with a tight-fitting lid and store it in the fridge.

How long does melting cabbage last?

Cabbage leftovers will keep for up to four days in the fridge.

How do you reheat melting cabbage?

You can warm up the melted cabbage recipe by simmering wedges over low heat in a saucepan along with a little bit of sauce or water. Or, use the reheat setting on a microwave.

Melting Cabbage Tips

SARAH TRAMONTE FOR TASTE OF HOME

Can you use purple cabbage for melting cabbage?

Yes! Purple cabbage makes a very pretty side dish, and because it’s similar in texture to regular green cabbage, it cooks in much the same way. Purple cabbage contains even more antioxidants than its green relative, which is another great reason to cook with it.

What can you serve with melting cabbage?

Garlic Parmesan melting cabbage is just wonderful partnered with hearty meat dishes and spuds as part of a cold-weather dinner. I like to serve it with buttermilk mashed potatoes and slow-cooker pot roast, or alongside a roasted chicken with rosemary and a generous helping of roasted honey sweet potatoes.