Verza and cabbage, cabbage, but also black cabbage, hedgehog or cauliflower: in winter this family of vegetables are the master on the table. There are various types of it, you are spoiled for choice on which to put on the table and with which recipe to cook. Rich in nutritional properties, particularly suitable for low-calorie diets and rich in health benefits, the cabbage lends itself to many dishes, both as a main ingredient and as a side dish. Here how to cook the cabbage.

What is the cabbage

At the supermarket it is easy to even meet the cabbage: what's the difference? None, it is the same vegetable. There savoy cabbage it is a cabbage with dark and wrinkled leaves, deeply innervated and with a wavy, curly surface. There are various types of cabbage on the market.

There is that rose with the outer leaves well open, or without external leaves and in the shape of a ball. This type of cabbage is also known as cabbage of Milan or Savoy, since it is the protagonist of many typical recipes like the cassoeula, i pizzoccheri he rolls.

The cabbage is often confused with the cabbage. Both belonging to the family of brassicas, the cabbage has smooth leaves, a single thicker central rib and many thin in the cravings. It is used for the preparation of cabbage. We recognize it by the fact that it is always very compact in the shape of a ball. While the cabbage is consumed only cooked, the cabbage is also used raw in salad.

Collection period

The cabbage is grown mainly in the autumn and winter months. With the appropriate precautions it is very simple to grow. Resists frost, as long as not prolonged over time. In winter, the variety is usually grown Iron head and the Verzotto d'Asti, the Late of Milan, the Late of Piacenza and the Winter Triumph. In spring the Precocissimo of Asti and the Quarantine of San Giovanni.

The harvesting of the cabbage takes place when the central head it is well formed. This depends on the cultivation period, but also on the chosen variety. It is easy to wait until the cabbage is thickened to the maximum and make a scalar collection to better manage family consumption.

How to clean the cabbage

First put the whole cabbage on the cutting board and remove the hard core of the core. Then proceed to eliminate the first damaged outer leaves. The procedure is simple: grab the leaf from the head of the vegetable and fold it outwards, with a slight pressure, breaking it at the root.

There cleaning of the cabbage it also changes based on how you're going to cook it. If the recipe requires that you cut it to strips (to prepare moist and side dishes), first cut it in half with a thick and robust knife. Then, using a smaller and pointed blade, make a triangle cut so as to detach the hard part of the core.

The leaves they must be completely peeled, washed under running water and drained in a salad centrifuge so as not to waste them. Let them dry on a kitchen towel.

How to prepare and how to cut

With the central leaves more tender, if you want to create some strips to add to the salad, to prepare sauerkraut or other side dishes, stacked and sliced. To get smaller pieces of the long strips, you can grate the cabbage over the wide holes.

If you want to use the Savoy cabbage for the minestrone, uses the outer leaves, also suitable for preparing rolls. For the latter, dip 2-3 leaves at a time in plenty of lightly salted water. Toglile after 3-4 minutes and put them on a cloth to cool. Take one leaf at a time, place it on the cutting board and cut into the end of the central rib. Pull it upward to remove all the hard parts.

Prepare a filling as you wish and place it with a spoon at the widest part of the leaf. Fold it on the filling first at the bottom of the leaf, then rolling the two side flaps, so as to keep the filling well compressed, forming a roll. Stop opening with a toothpick or twine.

Take the rolls and cook stew with tomato sauce (to prepare delicious Verzini) or sprinkle with a little broth. The rolls can also be cooked in a hot oven at 180 degrees for about 40 minutes.

How to cook steamed

We know how to cook the steamed vegetables prolonged it depletes nutrients. There savoy cabbage – as well as other cabbage – have anti-inflammatory properties, are rich in iron, fiber, calcium and fatty acids, strengthen the immune system, antioxidants and anti-cancer, lower the pressure and protect the heart. For this, if you want cook them with steam, you will have to calibrate the times well and choose the right tool.

If you use one steam, you will not have to exceed 20-25 minutes. You can cook the cabbage steamed even with the Thermomix. If you use the microwave, the cooking time changes according to the chosen cut. If you cook the sliced ​​cabbage, add a quarter cup of water for every two cups of cabbage. Use a container with lid or microwave film without sealing. It takes 5-6 minutes for the puff pastry. For sliced ​​cabbage, 5 minutes at maximum heat: stop the oven halfway through cooking, mix quickly with a fork and resume.

How to cook in the oven

How the baked cabbage cooks? Here are some quick tips. Cut the leaves coarsely and scottale in a pot with boiling salted water for 5 minutes. Drain and in the meantime preheat the oven to 200 °. Take a baking dish, an ounce of oil and arrange the leaves boiled in layers. Season and cover with breadcrumbs Parmesan or mozzarella.

Cook the savoy cabbage baked also means using it for many good recipes, to enrich pasta flans, prepare roulades of savoy cabbage and apples with cream of celeriac, create cabbage and mortadella flan or a potato gattle in savoy leaves.

How to cook in the pan

One way for cook the cabbage leaving intact its beneficial properties is to use the cooking pan. This tool can help you create delicious side dishes, sauces for first courses or soups. After cleaning it, we find out how to cook the cabbage in the pan.

Once dry, cut the leaves into strips that are not too small. In the meantime, heat a few tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil with a clove of garlic in a large frying pan with a thick bottom, add the cabbage and cover with a lid. Start cooking and, after a few minutes, if necessary, add two glasses of water to prevent the vegetables from sticking to the pan. Cooking time: 15 minutes.

Among the many recipes with the savoy cabbage, try the weed, le croquettes of soya and cabbage, the turkey pocket with cabbage he small dumplings of polenta and cabbage with aromas.

How to cook it avoiding the smell

By now you will have understood that the cabbage is a healthy food, which you can take advantage of during the winter. Versatile, tasty, it lends itself to the preparation of many tasty recipes. There is only one problem: thesmell. What makes the cabbage often unwelcome to adults, children and cooks is the pungent odor that spreads throughout the house when it is prepared. But cooking the cabbage avoiding the smell is possible.

For steaming or pressure cooking, the most effective method to dampen the smell of cabbage is to add to the water some bay leaf, or a spoonful of white vinegar you hate milk, or even a spoon of capers.

Another winning method against the smell of cabbage is to put one slice of bread with the breadcrumbs soaked in vinegar in the cooking pot. If you do not want to add inside, the slice ìi can position on the lid always near the steam outlet. One is fine too potato. The winning matches against the notorious stink are: potato-bay, vinegar-bay, milk-bay.

A pot already closed, to capture any fugitive smell, put in the kitchen a coffee tazziona with a little white vinegar inside. Once the cooking is finished, a small saucepan with a little bit can be placed on the stove water and laurel to be boiled for a few minutes. So there will be no more excuses for not cooking the cabbage.