Cabbage Parcels: A Tasty and Healthy Vegetarian Main Course
If you are looking for an original idea for a scenic appetizer or a light vegetarian main course, these cabbage parcels are the perfect solution. Besides being beautiful to look at, they are a great way to incorporate the nutritional properties of cabbage into your diet, turning it into a treasure trove of flavor.
Ingredients and benefits of cabbage
Cabbage is a real mine of vitamins and minerals, perfect for those looking for healthy recipes without sacrificing taste. In this version, its leaves hold a creamy and savory filling, creating a truly irresistible contrast of textures.
How to prepare cabbage and potato parcels
Making these parcels is simple and requires just a few steps: first, blanch the cabbage leaves for a few minutes, assemble the parcels by placing the leaves directly into muffin molds and fill them, creating layers with thinly sliced potatoes, homemade arugula pesto, and creamy stracchino cheese.
A quick pass in the oven to melt the cheese, and you’re done!
Ideas for serving your vegetarian parcels
These parcels are extremely versatile. You can serve them as a scenic finger food ideal for a gourmet aperitif or a buffet; as a warm appetizer to start a Sunday lunch or dinner with friends. But also as a light main course accompanied by a fresh seasonal salad.
Your guests will be amazed by the goodness of this simple yet refined dish. Try them right away for your 2025 menu!
If you like vegetables and love wrapping and filling them in a thousand different ways, these recipes might also suit your taste!
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Portions: 12 parcels
- Cooking methods: Boiling, Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Fall, Winter, and Spring
Ingredients
⚠ THIS RECIPE CONTAINS ONE OR MORE AFFILIATE LINKS. The products I recommend are the same ones I use in my recipes; purchasing them through my blog helps support me and my work, while it will cost you nothing extra!
- 12 leaves cabbage (small)
- 1 potato
- 4.5 oz stracchino cheese
- 6 olives
- 1 pinch salt
- to taste pepper
- 2.8 oz arugula
- 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1.4 oz grated Grana Padano cheese
- 1.8 oz whole blanched hazelnuts (toasted)
- 1 clove garlic (or a pinch of garlic powder)
- 1 pinch salt
Tools
- 1 Knife
- 1 Pot
- 1 Mandoline
- 1 Bowl
- 1 Pan
- 1 Muffin mold
- 1 Blender
- 2 Spoons
- 1 Slotted spoon
- 1 Mixing bowl
- 1 Brush
Steps
To obtain the first 12 outer leaves of the cabbage, start by cutting out the central core with a sharp knife.
Dig a little deeper to remove most of the tougher central rib.
Place the cabbage in a large pot, drizzle with hot water until covered more than halfway, close the lid leaving a small vent, bring to a boil, and cook over low heat for 12 minutes. This way the leaves will come off more easily.
In the meantime, using a mandoline, slice the potato very thinly.
Transfer them to a large bowl with cold water to release their starch.
Separately, prepare your arugula pesto. After washing the leaves thoroughly under running water, squeeze them well and transfer them to a blender.
Add also the hazelnuts, the garlic clove or garlic powder, and the grana cheese.
Adjust with salt and pour in the oil in a thin stream.
Blend in intervals until you obtain a dense, thick, and homogeneous consistency.
After the 12 minutes of cooking, turn off the heat, remove the cabbage with a slotted spoon, and let it cool for a few minutes in a mixing bowl. Then, gently detach the leaves* and line the muffin molds that have been previously brushed with oil.
Place 3-4 potato slices that have been well-drained inside each parcel, then lightly salt and pepper.
Add a teaspoon of stracchino to each parcel.
Do the same by adding the arugula pesto, meaning a teaspoon for each.
Pit the olives, cut them in half, and place each half inside the parcels.
Finally, cover with a few more potato slices (no more than 2-3).
Then close the parcels, pressing well so they don’t open, and place in a preheated static oven at 375°F for 30 minutes or until golden.
Turn off the oven and take them out. Serve them still warm or even at room temperature if you prefer, they will still be delicious.
And voilà… the vegetarian cabbage parcels with potatoes and arugula pesto are ready to be enjoyed!
Bon Appetit from La Cucina di FeFè!
Storage
👉You can store the vegetarian cabbage parcels with potatoes, arugula pesto, and stracchino in the fridge for 2-3 days in suitable airtight containers.
Tips, notes, variations, and suggestions
🟣* The central leaves left over from the recipe can be used to make, for example, a fantastic parmigiana. Already slightly blanched, they will be perfect for layering in a baking dish with the ingredients you like best. Here’s HERE an example.
🟣You can replace the cabbage with Savoy cabbage or black cabbage if you prefer, but if you generally don’t like cabbages, you can also use radicchio. For the filling, you can replace the stracchino with ricotta or any other fresh soft cheese like quark cheese, squacquerone, robiola, etc.; also, the arugula pesto can easily be replaced with classic basil pesto, celery and almond pesto, spinach and hazelnut pesto, or another of your choice.
🟣For a non-vegetarian version, you can replace the black olives with some anchovies in oil. All super tasty versions and very successful!
