Cabbage Casserole: the Easy Recipe for the Hearty Italian Old-Fashioned Version

The Italian Cabbage Casserole, also known as Valpellinese Casserole, is a typical dish of the Aosta Valley cuisine. A humble recipe, which was created with the intention of reusing stale bread, so rich and tasty that it will win you over, during this National Cabbage Day, precisely because of its simplicity of execution. The cabbage is sautéed in a pan with a base of garlic and oil, alternating with layers of rustic bread and fontina cheese, then placed in the oven to gratinate, until the cheese has melted and the surface has become crunchy and golden. Between one layer and another, meath broth is also added, to soften the bread and flavor it further.

A tasty and invigorating dish, to be enjoyed piping hot as a side dish or main course during a lunch with family or friends. Like all typical traditional recipes, there are many different versions as each family prepared it with what they had available at home. You can replace the fontina cheese with another type of stringy cheese and the meat broth with vegetable broth for a vegetarian variant. For an even tastier result, you can add diced bacon, browned in a non-stick pan, or flavor everything with a pinch of cinnamon or nutmeg, for an even more fragrant note. Find out how to make Italian Cabbage Casserole by following our quick and easy recipe step by step.

How to Prepare Italian Cabbage Casserole

Peel the cabbage and remove the most damaged outer leaves.

Cut it in half.

Cut it into strips of about 1 cm thickness.

Rinse it thoroughly under cold running water.

In a pan, brown the garlic clove with a drizzle of oil.

Add the cabbage.

Season it with a pinch of salt.

Let it cook until the cabbage has softened.

Meanwhile, cut the bread into slices.

Grease a baking tray with the knob of butter.

Arrange the bread slices in one layer.

Wet the bread with a little broth.

Cover the bread slices with the stewed cabbage.

Cut the fontina cheese into thin slices.

Distribute them over the cabbage.

Cover with another layer of bread slices.

Then, add another layer of cabbage and sliced fontina cheese.

Pour in more broth and then bake at 200°C, with the grill on, for about twenty minutes or until the surface is well browned.

Once the cooking time has elapsed, remove from the oven and leave to cool for a few moments.

Cut into slices, put them on plates and season with freshly ground pepper before serving.

Advice

The Italian Cabbage Casserole can be kept in the refrigerator, covered on the surface with a sheet of cling film, for a maximum of 1 day. Freezing it is not recommended.