Ella Quittner's Braised Tomato-Butter Cabbage
The "Obsessed with the Best" author shares a simple yet elevated recipe
This technique exemplifies my favorite way to prepare for a dinner party. I call it You-Can’t-Prove-That-I-Made-This-Pantsless Cooking. There is minimal prep work required. The Dutch oven and the heat do all of the hard stuff. You don’t even have to hover over the pan; cabbage is forgiving and difficult to destroy. The planks of ginger, paired with tomato paste, produce a flavor profile similar to the stuffed cabbage I grew up requesting for my birthday (many of my friends were stuffed animals), and you could totally lean into that, serving this with rice and meatballs or short ribs. For the record, my great-grandmother made her stuffed cabbage with crumbled gingersnap cookies in the bottom, and would look at my fresh ginger planks with more than a bit of suspicion.
—Ella Quittner
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Ingredients
Makes 6 servings
¼ cup neutral oil, like avocado or vegetable oil
1 head Savoy cabbage, core intact, sliced into 6 wedges
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 large or 6 medium shallots, sliced into thin rings (about ¼ inch thick; any thinner and they will burn)
3 teaspoons Diamond Crystal kosher salt
2 teaspoons dried chile flakes
5 garlic cloves, minced
One 2-inch piece fresh ginger, sliced into planks about ⅓ inch thick
One 4½-ounce tube double concentrated tomato paste (it’s fine to use a 6-ounce can)
Juice of 1 lemon
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Method
Heat the oven to 425°F.
Heat a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat for 3 minutes. Add the oil. When it’s shimmering hot, place the cabbage wedges in the pot, cut side down. (If your Dutch oven isn’t large enough, you can do this in two batches.) Cook the wedges for 8 to 10 minutes, until they have a deeply golden sear all over the bottom side. If you’re in no rush, do this again on the second cut side. Use tongs to transfer the cabbage wedges to a plate. Set aside.
Lower the heat to medium. Add the butter, shallots, and 2 teaspoons of the salt. Sauté the shallots, stirring occasionally, until they have started to become translucent and jammy with the occasional caramel-colored, frizzly edge, about 10 minutes. Add the chile flakes, garlic, and ginger planks. Make a well in the center and add the tomato paste. Fry the paste in the melted butter for 2 to 3 minutes, until it turns dark red, then combine into the rest of the ingredients. Deglaze the pan with 2 cups water and the lemon juice, using a wooden spoon to scrape up any browned bits freed by the liquid.
Nestle the cabbage wedges in the tomato paste mixture, caramelized sides up. Place the lid most of the way on, with a little gap, and transfer to the oven. Roast for about 40 minutes, until the cabbage has lost all will to remain structured and firm, then remove the lid and baste the wedges with the reduced sauce. Roast, uncovered, for another 5 to 10 minutes, until the wedges look like they’re extremely spent after a taxing workweek. Fish out the ginger planks and toss.
Serve the cabbage wedges with the thickened pan sauce, sprinkled with the remaining 1 teaspoon salt.
From Obsessed with the Best by Ella Quittner. Reprinted by permission of William Morrow Cookbooks.
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