Pan-braised black cabbage, a super tasty and easy-to-make winter side dish, is harder to find in the south, so every time I see it, I buy it without thinking twice. Black cabbage is really delicious and easy to prepare, great on its own or to enrich all our soups and stews, excellent with legumes, pasta, or polenta. If you haven’t tried black cabbage yet, I recommend it, it’s fabulous. I discovered it recently at the seaside in Calabria; it’s not easy to find, but now that I’ve discovered it, I’ll be looking for it more often.
- Difficulty: Very Easy
- Cost: Very Cheap
- Preparation time: 5 Minutes
- Portions: 2
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Winter
Ingredients for Pan-Braised Black Cabbage
- 14 oz cleaned black cabbage
- 1 carrot
- 1 stalk celery
- 1/2 onion
- to taste extra virgin olive oil
- to taste salt
- to taste water
Tools for Preparing Pan-Braised Black Cabbage
- 1 Colander
- 1 Pan
- 1 Cooking spatula
- 1 Cutting board
- 1 Knife
- 1 Lid
Steps for Preparing Pan-Braised Black Cabbage
Prepare a mince of carrot, celery, and onion, working with a knife on a cutting board; it doesn’t need to be very fine.
In a large non-stick pan, add a little oil, heat it, add the minced vegetables, and let them wilt over low heat. Then start adding the washed and chopped black cabbage. Mine was already ready to cook, but if you have it in leaves, use the tender whole leaves, removing the tougher ones from the central stem, which we discard.
Cover and add the cabbage gradually as it wilts from the heat.
Once it has reduced in volume, add a little salt, a glass of water (about 8 oz), and bring to a simmer with the lid on, over low heat.
Cook for about an hour, or less if the cabbage is tender. At the end, let all the cooking water evaporate by removing the lid, and if necessary, increase the flame, but be careful not to burn it.
Once tender, our pan-braised black cabbage is excellent to enjoy as a side dish, or we can turn it into a great main dish by adding legumes or polenta.
