Oven Roasted Cheesy Cabbage: a great side dish that can be also eaten as a main vegetarian plate. Try it, you may even get your children to eat it. The crispy cheesy top and the mix of cabbage and tomato can be the ticket to a wonderful meal!
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[This post was first published on April 17, 2015]
Oven Roasted Cheesy Cabbage. Do you love your cabbage? Well, I have a dish for you that takes this vegetable to the next level. Nice quarters of blanched cabbage combined in a baking dish with crushed tomatoes, paprika, carrots, celery, onions, and mushrooms, not to mention melted cheese. The end result in one word is: crispy!
Cabbage is not a dirty word!
I am sure most of you can remember way back when you heard cabbage and our noses would turn. It is for the poor and what they serve at the orphanages, plus it smells. However, today cabbage has become a real staple in the winter months and chefs and cooks alike are using it more often than not. For me, I love it whether in a slaw or steamed with potatoes, all the more, I sauté it in onions, butter, and perogies and that my friends, is pure deliciousness!
History 101
Cabbage has been farmed for over 4000 years and has been used in domestic kitchens for approximately 2500 years. It is said that cabbage was mostly connected to the Celtic culture, and they brought it from Asia about 600 BC.
More so, very popular in cold climate zones, as its yields are high, and store very well in the winter months. Cabbage has many benefits including weight loss (low in calories), brain food, helps with hair, nail, and skin, detoxifies the body, is anti-cancerous, helps with high blood pressure, a warm compress made with cabbage leaves is supposed to relieve headaches, and double as an anti-inflammatory!
Did you know it is also supposed to relieve hangovers? It would have been good to know in those younger years!
Adding dimension to ordinary!
Cooking has really grown in popularity and creativity. Today's dish Oven Roasted Cheesy Cabbage is an example of that phenomenon! This dish requires very little time, furthermore, it is inexpensive, and needs very few ingredients. Better, it may even get those fussy children to eat some veggies. Always a bonus in my eyes!
Components of the dish:
- green cabbage
- the mighty trio: carrots, onions, celery
- mushrooms
- Parmigiano and Asiago cheese
- paprika
- olive oil and butter
Starting the process:
- Firstly we have to cut the cabbage into quarters or wedges. Then into a pot of boiling water to get cooked a bit.
- Secondly, we take the cabbage out of the pot and let drain. It then goes into a baking dish that has been drizzled with evo oil.
- Thirdly, in a sauté pan, cook the celery, carrots, onions, and mushrooms in olive oil/butter until softened. This can be done while the cabbage is boiling. Then we sprinkle this over the cabbage in the baking dish
Getting ready for the oven
- We are almost ready to put our dish in the oven which we have to preheat so it's nice and hot. While the oven is heating up we put the finishing touches on the dish starting with salt, pepper, and paprika.
- Likewise spooning some crushed tomatoes and a good sprinkling of grated Parmigiano and finally some grated Asiago cheese.
- A quick drizzle of olive oil and into the oven it goes. Keep an eye on it, because we want to see that top and edges get all crisped up!
The aroma is everything!
For me, when something smells delicious, it's gotta be delicious. From the aroma in the kitchen, I can only say my taste buds are salivating. Between melting cheese, tomato sauce, paprika, and those nice crispy bits that are forming on the cabbage, it tells me there is going to be an amazing texture and flavor end result!
A thing of foodie beauty!
Take a look at this. I absolutely love melted crispy cheese. You will usually find me scraping the pan for those caramelized bits. They taste so so good! There is a thing of beauty when you have cabbage that is soft inside that it just melts in your mouth, and then that accompanies crisp charred edges, gooey crispy cheese. alongside that mirepoix. The real surprise element is those mushrooms. Meaty, plump, and oh so juicy. A very welcomed texture and flavor to the mix.
Worth a try!
This Oven Roasted Cheesy Cabbage has everything you would want in a wonderful vegetarian meal. However, it can also be a great side dish to fish, beef, pork, or chicken, for that matter. You may even entice the kids to eat some veggies. Nicoletta loves her vegetarian dishes, at first, she was a bit unsure about what I was creating, however at dinner seeing her fork go in for more told me she really enjoyed the meal, a definite bonus for me!
Give this a try, I am sure it won't disappoint!
Enjoy!
Oven Roasted Cheesy Cabbage
Oven Roasted Cheesy Cabbage. Do you love your cabbage? Well, I have a dish for you that takes this vegetable to the next level. Nice quarters of blanched cabbage combined in a baking dish with crushed tomatoes, paprika, carrots, celery, onions, and mushrooms, not to mention melted cheese. The end result in one word is: crispy!
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: Serves 2-4 people 1x
Ingredients
- 1 medium-size green cabbage
- ½ cup crushed tomato or tomato puree
- 1 carrot chopped
- ½ onion chopped
- 1 stalk of celery chopped
- 4 Cremini mushrooms sliced
- ½ cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano
- ½ cup grated Asiago cheese
- 2 tablespoons D.O.P extra virgin cold-pressed olive oil
- pat of butter (optional)
- salt
- pepper
- 1 ½ teaspoon of paprika
Instructions
- Cut cabbage into ⅛ wedges. Put the cabbage into a pot of boiling water. Cook cabbage for about 10-15 minutes, drain and let stand.
- Put 1 tablespoon of oil and a pat of butter into a sauté pan. Bring to heat and add chopped celery, carrots, onions, and also sliced mushrooms.
- Add salt and pepper to taste. Sauté till onions are translucent, and carrots a bit softened. Then set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- Place 1 tablespoon of oil into an oven roasting dish. Add cabbage. Spread vegetables over top.
- Add tomatoes by spooning overtop. Sprinkle paprika throughout.
- Top with grated Parmigiano and Asiago. Drizzle some olive oil on top.
- Place in the oven on the middle rack. Bake till cheese starts to brown and edges of cabbage start caramelizing. About 20 minutes.
- Take out of the oven and serve.
Notes
You can use other cheeses such as Cheddar, Fontina, or Swiss.
Use the more robust cabbages as they will hold firmer.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: Side dish, vegetarian
- Method: Baking/stovetop
- Cuisine: Mediterranean
Keywords: cabbage, Asiago cheese, Parmigiano cheese, paprika, tomato puree, evo oil, butter, vegetarian, side dish
When I am not cooking, I enjoy playing musical instruments, singing, writing. I have learned over the years to live in gratitude and enjoy the moment.
Bernice Hill says
I love everything about this dish...roasted cabbage is so under rated! Pairing it with cheese is such an excellent idea too. I have some cabbage that needs using up in my fridge and this is happening tonight.
★★★★★
Thank you Bernice for acknowledging the wonderful vegetable cabbage. You are so right it is very under rated and got a bad rap long ago. Here's to the cabbage revival!
Enjoy the dish!
Cheers!
Vanessa says
I love cabbage! It is such a delicious cooked vegetable. This dish really takes it to another level. Yum!
★★★★★
Thank you Vanesa, we too love our cabbage, I love its earthy sweetness and pairs so well with many things. I have even sautéed it with curry and onions and tossed perogies with it. Absolutely delicious!
Cheers!
Colleen says
We love cabbage and I'm always looking for new ways to use it. This cheesy roasted cabbage looks delicious and I know it will be a hit.
★★★★★
Thank you Coleen, yes cabbage is so versatile, and the flavor goes so well with many things. Can't wait for you to try this recipe. Send us a note on what you think and how it turned out!
Happy cooking!
Kristen says
I would never have thought to put cheese with cabbage in this way, but WOW it is incredible. Thanks for sharing this delicious recipe.
★★★★★
Hi Kristen, Yes the cheese is a wonderful accompaniment to the cabbage and roasted in the oven with all the other ingredients produces some pretty serious tasty food!
Cheers!
NANCY says
Perfect ! I have some cabbage in the fridge I don't know what to do with! Adding cheese should get the little monster to eat it!
★★★★★
A great plan Nancy, gotta do these kind of thing to get the kids to eat there veggies. I am sure they will devour this!
Enjoy!
AmyG says
Love this absolutely cheesy cabbage recipe. This is a keeper!
★★★★★
Thank you Amy, enjoy it! Very delicious!
Cheers!
Vijitha says
I like cabbage whether it's cooked or raw. I cook it in a few different ways but had never thought of roasting it like this. This is so good! I'm gonna try this for sure - such a great mix of flavors and textures!
★★★★★
Thank you so much, we are always trying new things developing flavors and textures to get a great dish out of it. So happy you want to try this!
Cheers!
K V (K V Subrahmanyam) says
Wonderfully simple. Made it sitting in Chennai (India) today, where we are in a lockdown. With a slight modification. I did not have celery and mushrooms, and so I used two onions, and cut three tomatoes fine and added it to the vegetables and cooked it, and spiced it with some basil (not fresh, alas) and oregano. And layered the cabbage and the vegetable mix alternately (two layers) throwing some cheese between two layers. Was a hit with my two grown up children who came to the table very suspicuious of what was on offer.
★★★★★
We're so happy to hear that! Your modifications sound delicious. Glad the whole family enjoyed it. Thank you very much for the feedback!
Denise says
Hi Loreto, I absolutely love my cabbage & this recipe reminds of a meal I had in Malta a few years ago, had forgot it till I seen ure post, now I'm going to make this meal this weekend, it was delicious as I'm sure ures will be too
★★★★★
Thank you Denise. Cabbage used to have such a very small following, and maybe lack of creativity in those days. I absolutely love cabbage and the way it is done backed and all cheesy is just delicious. Would love to hear how it turned out and if it was well received.
Happy cooking Denise and thank you for checking out this recipe!!
Cheers!