The cabbage family is extremely varied, and though one often takes them for granted, winter would be much drearier and more boring in their absence. All sorts of recipes, from delicate to positively earthy.
This simple cabbage salad from Friuli Venezia Giulia will be equally tasty with red or green cabbage, though I might choose green because it will contrast with the red of the pancetta.
Sautéed cabbage is common throughout northern Italy, with many relatively minor variations on the theme. This particular sautéed cabbage recipe is from the Vicentino, in the Veneto.
Though most south Italian cabbage recipes feature the flowering cabbages, south Italians do also grow and enjoy head cabbages. This very simple stewed cabbage recipe is Sicilian.
The Alto Adige is famed for its apple crop, and what better way to prepare apples than with red cabbage? There are many versions of this recipe, and this one is fairly quick.
The Alto Adige is famed for its apple crop, and what better way to prepare apples than with red cabbage? This recipe does take some planning, because you do have to marinate the ingredients, but the actual cooking is straight-forward.
Though one may associate pickled cabbage with Germany, it's also quite popular in the Alto Adige (which is ethnically Germanic), and common in a great swath that extends across Friuli Venezia Giulia and down into the Balkans. While one can buy perfectly good commercially prepared sauerkraut, with time and patience one can also make it at home.
Sauerkraut takes quite well to being jazzed up, and here's an idea for jazzing up sauerkraut that goes quite well with roasts or boiled meats.
Savoy cabbage is a wonderfully versatile vegetable, and works beautifully with onions and walnuts in this Piemontese vegetarian entrée or side dish.
Rollups, or involtini, are usually meat-based, with vegetable filling. This Piemontese recipe instead has one use cabbage leaves as the base, and roll them up around bits of boned duck.
Cauliflower is one of the princes of the winter vegetable market, and it combines beautifully with sausages to yield a tasty sausage and cauliflower casserole.
A classic winter recipe that you'll find in every cuisine. The Italian touch is in the cheese, a mixture of Fontina (or mozzarella) and Parmigiano.
The combination of bread crumbs and anchovies is very common in southern Italy, and nicely complements broccoli.
I tend to prefer broccoli cooked simply, with little that will distract from their refreshing greenness. However, tomatoes add a nice touch. This simple recipe is Sicilian.
This very traditional Sicilian dish can be either a side dish or a pasta sauce. In the past, when the poor could grow their broccoli, but had to buy the pasta, the greens predominated over the pasta when the recipe was used as a sauce. It's also a nice accompaniment to a roast or stew.
Though there are some elaborate cabbage recipes, many preparations are quite easy, and quite tasty too. This will work well either as a side dish with a roast or stew, or with polenta, in a vegetarian meal.
This is a more modern cabbage recipe, as you might guess from the presence of Worcestershire Sauce. It will work well either as a side dish with a roast or stew, or with polenta, in a vegetarian meal.
This may strike you as rather Germanic, and you'd not be far off: Up until World War I the northern half of the Val D'Adige was an Austrian province. The victorious Italians annexed everything up to the Passo del Brennero to obtain a defensible border. Returning to the recipe, it's quite easy to do and quite nice too.
Joe C. writes: I've seen a number of readers' recipes included in your articles, so I thought I would share one of mine with you. Fall is approaching rapidly and it will be a time when I look to make hearty, soul satisfying dishes. The following is one of my favorites, and especially good for those who don't necessarily like Brussels sprouts. Buon Appetito!!
Cavolo nero, black leaf kale, is a leafy cabbage that doesn't form heads, but rather resembles palm fronds, with deep greenish black leaves that can be up to a yard (a meter) long, have pronounced ribs, and whose surfaces have a distinctive bubbly appearance. It's quite tasty and perfect in hearty soups or over (or in) polenta.
Savoy Cabbage with Sausages, or Verze e Luganega, is a classic north Italian winter dish, and though one might class it as a vegetable, it is actually a superb accompaniment to polenta. You'll find variations on this dish throughout the north; this particular interpretation is from the Veneto. Regular mild link sausages will work fine if you don't have Luganega sausage.
Italians often make meatballs, which are a perfect way to rework leftover boiled or roasted meat. In other words, they're frugal. However, in the past a large segment of the population would have found even meatballs beyond their means, and here cauliflower provides an option they would have been able to afford. The recipe is Sicilian, from Trapani.
Curry isn't too common in Italy, but you do occasionally encounter it, and it is a very welcome addition here. You can also easily make this into a tasty pasta sauce.
Cauliflower and white sauce are an extremely tasty combination.
Romagna Style Cauliflower, or Cavolfiore All'uso Di Romagna: A simple, tomatoey recipe from Artusi.
This is about as easy a winter vegetable as one could want, and will be a tasty addition to a platter of mixed fried vegetables. Fried cauliflower is also nice with a roast or stew.
Savoy Cabbage Flan with Pecorino Romano and Guanciale, or Sformato di Verza con Guanciale e Pecorino Romano: Guanciale is cured hog's jowl, and resembles prosciutto in flavor though it's more delicate; in its absence use very thinly sliced prosciutto (the fat and lean parts) instead. The use of hot pepper is quite typical or Roman cuisine.
Stuffed Cabbage Leaves, Rambascìci: This dish brings to mind the stuffed grape leaves of Near-Eastern tradition, and indeed Gioia Calussi says it was introduced to Dalmatia by the Arambaš, the leaders of the Adjuki, the mountain tribes who warred against the Turks. She also says that the dish was a fixture of the winter holidays, and especially Christmas: Nadal senza rambasici xe un leto matrimonial senza marìo; Christmas without rambasici is like a wedding bed without a husband.
Cabbage with Chestnuts and Sausages, or Cavolo con Castagne e Salsicce: Yet another cabbage recipe, and this time quite old; it appears in a collection of Piemontese recipes from 1771.
Cabbage Casserole: And what does winter cold bring to mind? Cabbages, the classic winter vegetables. Here's a recipe for left-over cabbage and leftover boiled meat from a treatise on dealing with leftovers published by Olindo Guerrini a little more than a century ago.
Kale in a Casserole, or Cavolo Nero in Casseruola: What does winter cold bring to mind? Cabbages, the classic winter vegetables. Though I generally associate kale with Tuscan cooking, and in particular with ribollita, a tasty bread soup that's peasant food at its best, it does also grow in other parts of Italy, including Lombardia, which is where this recipe hales from.
Cabbage Sardinian Style, or Cavolo Capuccio alla Sarda: And what does all winter cold bring to mind? Cabbages, the classic winter vegetables. You'll find recipes featuring them scattered across the site, and here's another, from Sardinia.
Cauliflower Sformato, or Sformato Di Cavolfiore: Quick, and quite satisfying.
Cooked Sauerkraut, or Capuzi Garbi: Though you may associate pickled cabbage with Germany, it's also common in a great swath that extends across Friuli and down into the Balkans. Here's a classic way of cooking them, from Cesare Fonda.
Aunt Adriana's Stuffed Cabbage leaves: Winding down, a couple of recipes from this year's Christmas dinner: stuffed Savoy cabbage leaves and spirited figs. The first is by Elisabetta's Aunt Adriana.
Fiery Broccoli Rabe, or Rape Nfucate: Luigi Sada says, in "La Cucina Pugliese", that in the Leccese section of Puglia it's custom to start off the Christmas Eve dinner with Rape Nfucate and focaccia.
A recipe from Cavalcanti, a great Neapolitan gastronome, transcribed by Caròla Francesconi. It's the traditional beginning of the Christmas Eve dinner.
"Ambitious, but if you're a broccoli rabe fan it's worth the effort." From Ditty's Sunday Supper.
