Melting Cabbage makes for a fantastic side dish, or even a a tantalizing vegetarian main. I love cabbage – it’s so versatile. I love it steamed, stir-fried, cooked into oblivion with apples and onions… It’s inexpensive and it hangs out happily in the crisper of your fridge for a long, long time, so you always have it available when inspiration hits.
This recipe was inspired by the flavors of Marry Me Chicken, a dish that I’ve never tried, only because I’ve never gotten around to it. Its reputation for irresistable deliciousness, so powerful that it has prompted marriage proposals, is hailed far and wide. I’ve stumble upon so many different and varied recipes for “marry me” this and “marry me” that. Always intriguing, but never inspiring until I started seeing recipes for cabbage prepared with the “marry me” treatment.
This recipe is a mash-up of all of the “marry me” cabbage recipes I’ve uncovered. The signature ingredient in “marry me” recipes is sun-dried tomatoes, which infuse the cream sauce that the cabbage “melts” into with delectable tart-sweetness. It tastes indulgent because it is!
You’ll love it too – I know you never expected to hear the words “cabbage” and indulgent” in the same sentence, but you’ll be smiling and nodding yes when you try it. Please try Melting Cabbage for me. Just one bite – I want to see you smile!
Melting Cabbage
Equipment
- large oven-proof skillet with a lid
Ingredients
- 1 head green cabbage
- 3 cloves garlic
- ¼ cup cream cheese
- 8 ounces sundried tomatoes in oil
- 2 T olive oil
- 2 cups chicken broth
- ¼ cup evaporated milk or heavy cream
- ½ t crushed red pepper
- ½ t salt (divided – ¼ t for the sauce and ¼ t for the cabbage)
- 2 t cornstarch
- 2 t water
- ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese (plus 1 T)
- ¼ t black pepper
- fresh parsley, for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat the oven and prep ingredients – Preheat the oven to 400℉. Remove any blemished outer leaves from the cabbage, then cut it into 2-inch wedges, keeping the core intact. Peel and mince the garlic. Cut the cream cheese into cubes and set aside. Pull the tomatoes out of the oil and give them a rough chop.
- Steam the cabbage – Lay the cabbage wedges on a plate and add ½ cup of water. Steam until soft, about 10 minutes, then set aside.
- Make the sauce – Add 2 T oil to your skillet, then stir in sun-dried tomatoes, broth, milk/cream, crushed red pepper flakes, minced garlic, cream cheese, and ¼ t salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until emulsified and bubbling, about 20 minutes. Stir 2 t cornstarch and 2 t water together, and whisk into the sauce. Removed from the heat and whisk in ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese.
- Bake – Nestle the cabbage wedges into the sauce in a single layer and shower with salt and pepper, a scant ¼ t each. Cover and bake for 30 minutes. Then uncover and bake for another 20 minutes, or until the cabbage is fork-tender and the sauce has slightly thickened. While the cabbage is baking, remove parsley leaves from the stems and mince.
- Finish – Sprinkle the cabbage with the reserved tablespoon of Parmesan cheese and garnish with fresh parsley.
Many of the recipes I’ve read call for browning the cabbage wedges first, removing them from the pan and making the sauce in that same pan, then nestling the cabbage back into the sauce and baking it. I have tried making Melting Cabbage that way, but although the charred flavor was nice, the cabbage still had a bit of a bite to it. Using the microwave to “steam” the cabbage produces a supple texture that is more appealing. The cabbage should be melting into the sauce, right? But don’t completely submerge the cabbage – the bits that are sticking out will char just a bit, and add that smokiness that you’re looking for.
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