Italian Style Roasted Cabbage Wedges

March 1, 2026 by 1 Comment

cabbage wedges

Italian style roasted cabbage transforms a humble head of cabbage into something spectacular. It’s my absolute favorite way to eat cabbage. All the flavors compliment each other and they become the perfect fit just like soul mates!

cabbage wedge

I realize there are hundreds of ways to make cabbage but if you’re going to roast some you have to give this a try, you might put it high on your list.

raw cabbage wedge

You’re going to cut your cabbage into thick wedges and what gives it the Italian flare is brushing each side with olive oil, some granulated garlic, a little salt and pepper and the most important key ingredient is, a good sprinkling of grated pecorino cheese on each side.

roasted cabbage

As the cabbage roasts the edges caramelize and turn golden brown, slightly crispy. The interior will become tender and sweet.

garlic tomato sauce

For the delicious sauce you’re just going to drain the juice from a large can of whole San Marzano tomatoes, keeping the tomatoes whole then tossing them into some warmed olive oil that’s been infused with softened whole garlic cloves.

Eventually you will be breaking the tomatoes open over the cabbage when it’s time to put everything together to finish off in the oven.

platter of roasted cabbage

This dish is perfect along side some roasted chicken, Italian sausage, or any kind of sausage honestly.

roasted cabbage wedges

It’s earthy, garlicky, smothered in a wonderful sauce enhanced with all the flavors that you prepped before roasting the cabbage.

I hope you enjoy every bite like I do!

5.0 from 1 reviews
Italian Style Roasted Cabbage Wedges
 
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Roasted cabbage with an Italian twist to it.
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Ingredients
  • 1 head of cabbage
  • 1 28 oz. can San Marzano tomatoes, drained of the juice
  • 5 whole peeled garlic cloves
  • grated pecorino romano cheese, (or Parmigiano Reggiano) measure with your heart
  • olive oil
  • fresh basil
  • chopped fresh parsley
  • salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
  1. Prep your cabbage by removing the outer leaves that might not look good.Rinse and pat dry. Then cut the cabbage in half DO NOT remove the core. It will help your wedges stay together. You can however trim a sliver off the bottom of the core if you wish. Lay each half cut side down and cut the cabbage into 3 wedges or 4 depending on the size of the cabbage.
  2. Place wedges on a parchment lined baking sheet and brush each side generously with olive oil, granulated garlic, a little salt, black pepper, a sprinkling of chopped parsley and the grated cheese.
  3. Roast in a 375 to 400 degree oven ( ovens vary in temp) until golden on each side and edges starting to caramelize. Gently turning them over with a big spatula.
  4. In the meantime prepare your sauce by covering the bottom of a small pan with olive oil and slowly simmering the garlic cloves until golden and soft.
  5. Add the whole tomatoes just to warm them and get them coated with the garlic flavored olive oil.
  6. Take your roasted cabbage wedges and place them gently into a baking dish and break open the tomatoes smothered right on top of the cooked wedges, adding in the whole garlic cloves as well and some more of the infused garlic olive oil.
  7. Sprinkle with fresh basil, parsley some more grated cheese and place the dish into the oven til bubbly and cabbage is nice and tender.
  8. Enjoy!

 

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Antipasto Potato Salad

May 20, 2024 by 4 Comments

antipasto with potatoes

This is the season for outdoor cooking with BBQ’s, picnic’s, parties, graduations and all sorts of get-together’s. As you can see from my previous few posts lately, I’ve been on a salad kick.

This antipasto potato salad is perfect for any of those occasions, I think you’re going to love it!

This is not your traditional American potato salad made with mayo, which by the way I think is delicious too. This one is called an antipasto potato salad because it’s filled with ingredients you would find on a nice big antipasto platter with the addition of potatoes.

antipasto salad

For the potatoes I used a mix of red and white thin skinned potatoes because that’s what I had, but you can use your favorite kind just don’t use a baking potato or a russet. I also left the skin on but you can certainly peel the skin off as well.

antipasto and potatoes

This is such a nice Italian twist on traditional potato salad, it’s dressed with a delicious red wine vinaigrette so you can put this out and serve it worry free in regards to spoiling because no mayonnaise is required.

Enjoy!

Antipasto Potato Salad
 
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Think of a nice big Italian antipasto salad, add some cooked potatoes and this is the delicious result. This recipe is adapted from Delish
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Ingredients
  • 2 lbs. of cooked red or white skinned potatoes, cooked until a knife goes through easily, cooled then cut bite size. ( you can peel them if you like)
  • 1 cup of salami, sliced. into quarters or diced
  • 1 can or jar of artichoke hearts, drained of liquid
  • 2 cups sliced cherry tomatoes
  • 1 container of bocconcini mozzarella, or the pearl size, drained of liquid
  • ½ red onion, sliced in half moons
  • a mix of olives, I like kalamata and castelvetrano, a cup or more
  • a handful each of fresh parsley and basil, chopped
  • VINAIGRETTE
  • ½ cup of good extra virgin olive oil
  • ¼ cup red wine vinegar
  • 2 small garlic cloves, grated
  • 1 dollop of Djion mustard
  • oregano and salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
  1. Shake the dressing in a jar.
  2. Place the salad ingredients into a big bowl, tossing in the herbs.
  3. Then arrange and place everything onto a big platter and spoon desired amount of the dressing over the top right before serving.
  4. Toss gently.

 

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Stuffed Cabbage, Italian Style

March 5, 2021 by 5 Comments

cooked cabbage

It’s March, and you’re going to see lots of cabbage in the supermarkets. I encourage you to pick up a large head and try my twist on stuffed cabbage Italian style. This is not to say that the traditional version isn’t any good, this is just my Italian take on it.

The concept is simple, the cabbage is wilted and wrapped around all the makings of your favorite Italian meatball and the sauce is a delicious marinara.

fresh cabbage

The cabbage I used here was your typical green cabbage, I chose a big head with lots of leaves. Savoy cabbage is another perfect variety to use if you can find one that is on the larger size.

The hardest thing about making stuffed cabbage is blanching the leaves off and to do this you’ll need a big pot of boiling water going. Core the end of the cabbage and submerge the whole thing into the boiling pot and place a cover on top.

After a few minutes remove the cover and peel off as many leaves as you can and drain on paper towels. Repeat the whole process until you have the number of leaves you want. The bigger the cabbage, the more leaves you’ll have.

After the leaves cool down place one at a time on a cutting board, pat dry and just cut out that center core so it’s easier to fold them. Then form the shape of a meatball using about 1/2  cup of meat mixture tucking the cabbage all around the sides of the meatball creating a round shape instead of the traditional log shape.

ground beef mixture

Here’s where you can really get creative! You can use your own family favorite meatball recipe or do a little improvising like I did with the ingredients above. I used 2 pounds of ground beef for this recipe, it was an 80/20 mix but ground sirloin works great as well as ground pork and turkey. Because of my large head of cabbage I was able to yield 14 rolls in total.

This post is meant to inspire you with the ingredients I used, or if you like, change things up with some of your favorites. For instance, using small chunks of mozzarella instead of the provolone cheese, or eliminate the cooked rice for breadcrumbs or even riced cauliflower. I always like to add a generous amount of grated pecorino, a couple of tablespoons of marinara, a good handful of fresh parsley and enough garlic so you can really taste it, you get the picture, flavor it up good!

cabbage rolls

Tuck your wilted cabbage all around your meatball and then place them seam side down in a pool of marinara.

sauced cabbage rolls

Spoon additional marinara ( homemade or a good quality store bought) on top of each roll, sprinkle pecorino on top and a nice drizzle of olive oil all over.

Cover your baking dish completely with foil and place into a pre-heated 360 degree oven for around 40 minutes. Uncover and test to see if a tip of a knife goes though easily.

Italian style cabbage

When finished cooking let it rest for a few minutes then garnish with parsley or basil and enjoy!

cabbage rolls

I hope you’ve been inspired to make my Italian style version of stuffed cabbage!

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Italian Meatloaf

November 25, 2018 by 4 Comments

Italian meatloaf

This is my version of Italian meatloaf, it’s rich and meaty, bursting with flavors of garlic, asiago, herbs and pecorino cheese and it has a tasty red pepper sauce infusing the inside as well as the outside.

Italian meatloaf

What can I say, meatloaf is homey, classic comfort food. This Italian meatloaf is something I make during the colder months. I like eating this with a big Italian salad or maybe roasted potatoes and sometimes the classic mashed, you can’t go wrong with either.

Italian meatloaf

You can slather the top with a red pepper sauce like store bought or homemade, or even just as good a chunky marinara. You’re then going to finish it off with some fresh mozzarella which you’ll stick on at the end for a few minutes just until it starts to melt and ooze out.

You can use whatever ground meat mixture you like, I used all ground beef in mine.

Italian meatloaf

Not only is this delicious for dinner but the next day you can slice it up for sandwiches with some good bread and crunchy lettuce.

red pepper sauce

FYI, If you’re lucky enough to have a Trader Joe’s near you, sometimes I cheat and buy this fabulous spread, it’s filled with red peppers, a bit of garlic and eggplant and it’s so delicious smeared all over the meatloaf as it bakes, and so convenient!

5.0 from 1 reviews
Italian Meatloaf
 
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Good old-fashioned meatloaf with an Italian twist
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Ingredients
  • 2 lbs. ground beef or ground meat of your choice
  • 3 garlic cloves minced
  • ½ chopped onion
  • handful of shredded carrots
  • handfull of grated pecorino romano
  • 2 eggs
  • ½ cup panko
  • ¼ cup red pepper sauce or marinara thats on the thicker side
  • ¾ cup asiago cheese, diced small
  • chopped basil and parsley for seasoning
  • salt and pepper
  • Additional red pepper sauce or thick marinara, enough to slather the top of the meatloaf
  • 3 slices of fresh mozzarella
  • Fresh basil for garnish
Instructions
  1. Mix everything together in a big bowl.
  2. Form meat mixture into a loaf.
  3. Place meatloaf into baking dish
  4. Smother with enough red pepper sauce or marinara to cover it from end to end.
  5. Bake at 375F for about 1 hour and 15 minutes or until meat thermometer reaches 160.
  6. Last 5 minutes or so place mozzarella on top and let it start to melt and ooze.
  7. Garnish with basil leaves on top of melted mozzarella.

 

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