Romanian Slow Roasted Caramelized Cabbage
This Romanian style slow roasted caramelized cabbage is the caramelized onion of the cabbage world. It’s sweet, spicy, smokey, tangy, and full of complex flavours. Through the magic of slow roasting, plain cabbage is transformed into a decadent comfort food that can be served over cornmeal porridge, in a bun, with potatoes, or even with noodles.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 3 hours
- Total Time: 3 hours 15 minutes
- Yield: 6-8 servings 1x
- Category: Comfort Food
- Method: Slow Cooking
- Cuisine: Romanian
Ingredients
- 1/2 head of cabbage, sliced into thin strips
- 500 grams of sauerkraut, well drained
- 7 medium sized tomatoes, diced
- 1 carrot, sliced
- 3 onions, finely diced
- 8–10 cloves of garlic, sliced
- 1 red chilli pepper with seeds, sliced thinly
- 1 handful of fresh thyme threads
- 1/3 cup of vegetable oil
- 1.5 tablespoons smoked paprika
- 3 bay leaves
- 2 teaspoons summer savoury
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 225 C / 440 F.
- Prepare the vegetables: finely slice fresh cabbage, thoroughly drain fermented cabbage, roughly dice tomatoes, peel and slice the carrot, finely slice the hot pepper, peel and finely dice the onions, and roughly slice the garlic cloves.
- Add the vegetables, salt and oil to a large bowl and massage: Add all the vegetables to a large bowl, sprinkle salt first and then add the oil and massage – crunching the cabbage in your hands to break down the vegetable fibers.
- Add the herbs and spices: Put the fresh thyme leaves in the bottom of your baking dish and add the smoked paprika, summer savoury, black pepper and bay leaves to the vegetables. Mix with your hands or utensils.
- Roast on high 30 minutes: Add everything to your baking dish and roast covered for 30 minutes.
- Reduce heat and slow cook: Reduce heat to 160 C / 320 F and roast another 2.5 – 3 hours – checking about halfway through and mixing things around a bit.
Notes
This recipe is just for the caramelized cabbage. If you want to add a protein, you can add it either at the beginning or near the end of cooking depending on what it is. Sausages, bacon and other smoked meat can be added near the beginning, whereas chicken and veggie proteins may be better suited to go in near the end.
Keywords: cabbage, slow roasted cabbage, caramelized cabbage, Romanian cabbage, cabbage recipes, cabbage recipe