Amazing Cabbage Parmesan Rounds
Cabbage is a great veggie – so versatile in that it can be eaten raw, shredded in a salad, have it as the main ingredient in a slaw, added to savory stir fry’s, pasta dishes, soups… and baked as in this and other recipes! This recipe blends a roasted cabbage round with the deliciousness of marinara sauce and cheeses for a fabulous vegetarian dinner! Leftovers are delicious cold or reheated so great for meal prep. Serve with a side of rice and you have a fully balanced meal of protein, carbs and fat. So good!
Cabbage is packed with great nutrients. It is part of the same veggie family as cauliflower, broccoli and kale. Cabbage is an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory, high in fiber to help digestion and plant sterols to support the balancing of cholesterol levels, rich is VitC to promote heart health, Vit K, Folate and VitB6, the latter 2 supporting the nervous system and the metabolism of energy and potassium to help regulate high blood pressure.
As always, when you make this recipe, I would love to see your creation so please post a photo of your Amazing Cabbage Parmesan Rounds goodness and tag my IG account #RenataCollective or leave a comment with your thoughts!
Prep Time: 15 minutes / Bake Time: 1 hour total / Makes: 4 servings
Ingredients
1 Medium – Large Green Cabbage – sliced to have 4 1-inch-thick rounds from the centre
1 ½ Tablespoons Grape Seed Oil – alternate: another neutral oil such as avocado or olive oil.
¼ teaspoon Herbed Seasoned Sea Salt – alternate: plain sea salt
Generous Grinds of Fresh Black Pepper
½ teaspoon Dried Basil,
½ teaspoon Dried Oregano
½ teaspoon Dried Thyme
½ teaspoon Dried Parsley
½ teaspoon Ground Rosemary
½ teaspoon Garlic Powder
¼ teaspoon Onion Powder
½ Cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
½ Cup Panko Breadcrumbs – alternate: gluten free breadcrumbs
1½ Tablespoons Grape Seed Oil (See above for alternates)
1 teaspoon Lemon Zest – optional
1 Cup Marinara Sauce – homemade or store bought
2/3 Cup Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
How It’s Made
Preheat your oven to 425°F with a middle oven rack.
Prepare a baking sheet lined with silicon liners, parchment paper or foil.
If using parchment paper of foil, brush a bit of the grape seed oil where you will be placing your 4 cabbage rounds to prevent them from sticking and to help them brown.
Place the cabbage rounds on the prepared baking sheet and sprinkle or brush the tops of each with some of the grape seed oil.
Season with a pinch of the herbed seasoned sea salt (or plain sea salt) and generous grinds of fresh black pepper.
Cover the baking sheet with foil and place in the oven to steam and roast until the cabbage rounds are tender – about 30-45 minutes.
While the cabbage is in the oven, in a medium bowl, mix together the basil, oregano, thyme, parsley, rosemary, garlic and onion powders. Then add in the parmesan cheese and the panko breadcrumbs. Mix all together well and set aside.
Check after 30 minutes, to see if the cabbage rounds are roasted through, by poking each with a sharp knife. The knife should slide in easily, if not, bake 10 minutes longer. Some of the outside leaves of the cabbage will cook to a charred state. Don’t worry about this as they will fall off when you are serving the rounds.
When the cabbage rounds are cooked through, carefully flip each cabbage rounds. You might lose some of the outside pieces and that’s ok, flip them separately as best as you can to join the rest of the round.
Mix the lemon zest and 1½ tablespoons of the grape seed oil to the panko mixture. (Doing this when mixing the mixture together makes it soggy.)
Top each cabbage round with the panko mixture, evenly sharing the mixture on the 4 rounds.
Return the baking sheet to the oven, this time uncovered and bake for 10-15 minutes until the panko mixture is nicely browned.
Next, spoon the marinara sauce evenly over each cabbage round and sprinkle each evenly with the mozzarella.
Bake for 5 minutes to warm the marinara sauce and melt the mozzarella.
Switch your oven to the broil setting, leaving the baking sheet on that middle oven level, and broil for 2min to lightly brown the cheese. Watch this carefully as it can burn quickly.
Remove from the oven.
Serve with a side of rice (or quinoa or farro or whatever you wish) to the delicious delight of your cabbage loving loved ones!
Enjoy!
