Winter is my season.
Solid and silent, it is the opposite of appearance. It is a season that doesn’t show off.
Winter calls for substance.
To stay warm, we need jumpers, scarves, and gloves. For nourishment, we need warm dishes such as soups and broths.
Meat and vegetable broths. Soups with pasta, rice, or bread. Minestrone with old vegetables. Among the recipes for the cold season, I tasted a new recipe, head cabbage soup.
The essence of winter
I like winter because it is the opposite of appearance.
It is a season that does not show off. You need to go ahead to appreciate winter, to sharpen your eyesight to see what matters.
Underfoot the earth is cracked and grey. But it is under that hard, often frozen layer that nature rests, waiting to be reborn.
I have always thought of winter as a person of few words; he is a general who plans for its arrival, sometimes regardless of the equinox. And that even brings the cold, but it is not heartless.
It is the details that reveal its true nature, mind you. In the furthest corner of the garden, taking a walk in the countryside or a park, pay attention to the precious and unexpected gifts of winter: snowdrops, cyclamens, heather, and tulips.
Head cabbage soup
Typical dishes of the period seem to say winter is substance.
It is the time for long cooking and baking, hearty and comforting food.
Polenta, baked pasta, stews, braised meats, roasts, ciambelle, jams and marmalades, warm and fragrant drinks such as tea, hot chocolate, and spiced wine.
The winter repertoire is a perfect synthesis of my favorite dishes.
I have tried a new recipe, and I think it is so good and easy to make that I decided to write about it on the blog.
I discovered it in a Bolognese cookbook, and I tried it, and, respecting the overall balance of the soup, I simplified some steps.
The name, of course, comes from the cabbage, also known as cappuccino. The rustic and substantial dish brings to mind the countryside and a time when there was little.
For this recipe, you need cabbage, onion, and broth. I don’t add the bread during cooking, but at the end, place it on the plate, sprinkling with grated Parmigiano, and pour a couple of steaming ladles of soup over it.
The outcome is beyond expectations.
Buona cucina, Monica
Cook with me
HERE you will find all my soup and broth recipes.
If you like cabbage, you may be interested in the recipe for cabbage flan with cotechino crumbs and amaretto cookies (HERE).
I deal with cold days better, knowing that baked pasta is waiting for me at home. Does this happen to you? HERE I have collected a few recipes.
Hot chocolate or tea? If in doubt, I leave a link where you’ll find what you need.
Keep in Touch
To receive unpublished recipes, tips, and food stories, sign up for the Tortellini&CO newsletter. You can disable it anytime.
If you like, follow me on Instagram, Pinterest and Facebook.
Food tip
If the bread slices are thin, you can also use frozen bread, which you can place on the bottom of the dish without thawing.
Head cabbage soup recipe
serves 4
List of the Ingredients
one small cabbage, about 300g
one white onion, not too big
a liter of meat stock, here is the recipe (for vegetable stock, see the advice section)
Grated Parmigiano, about 20 g per person
butter, olive oil, salt and pepper
one or two slices of bread per person
Method
Finely chop the onion and brown it in a pan with butter and olive oil.
Add the washed cabbage, finely sliced and then chopped up, removing the white part in the middle.
Add a pinch of salt, stir and cook over low heat, stirring for five minutes.
Then pour in the broth, close the pot with a lid, and, still over low heat, cook for twenty-thirty minutes.
Then, turn off the heat, add salt and, if you like, sprinkle with freshly ground pepper.
While the cappuccino soup is resting in the pan, place one or two thin slices of bread on the bottom of the soup bowls. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and pour in the soup.
Serve with black pepper and grated Parmesan on the side.
