Herby Cabbage in Parmesan Broth

It’s January once again, and although the shorter days and cold weather aren’t my favorite thing in the world, I love any opportunity to make a cozy and comforting soup that revolves around my favorite winter produce. This Herby Cabbage in Parmesan Broth is exactly that, offering both comfort and nutrition.

By now, you probably know that I love cabbage. Like, really love cabbage. I’ve roasted it, grilled it and made it into a slaw, but never have I ever made a cabbage soup, and that seemed like a crime to me. So here it is! This cabbage soup is rich and smooth with little hits of slight acidity from the herby dressing, which is exactly what I’m craving this time of year. This well-balanced and comforting meal will feel like a warm hug on a cold winter night.

This recipe requires just a bit of timing for the sake of ease, but it’s quite simple to make. Read on to learn how to make this cozy cabbage soup!

The ingredients for this cabbage soup, and when you’ll need to use them

This recipe is all about timing, and many ingredients are used for both the herby dressing and the broth. To streamline the process of making this recipe, the ingredients are listed in the order you’ll use them with some of them being used a couple of times throughout the recipe. Here’s what you’ll need:

• Diamond Crystal kosher salt
• 2 cups fresh parsley
• 1 medium lemon, for zest and juice
• 1 head garlic
• 2 medium shallots
• 1 leek, optional
• Extra-virgin olive oil
• 5 sprigs of fresh oregano
• 10 sprigs of fresh thyme
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 parmesan rinds (the more parmesan on the rind, the better)
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 medium head of savoy cabbage
• 1 tablespoon non-pariel capers
• 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Freshly grated parmesan, optional, for serving

To begin this recipe, we start making the herby dressing first, then setting it aside. After that, we start the parmesan broth, which uses some of the ingredients that go into the herby dressing. From there, we’ll bake the cabbage, and while that is cooking, we’ll finish the herby dressing and bring everything together. This may sound complicated, but it’s actually quite simple in practice! 🙂

Why should I blanch the parsley?

Blanching is a cooking method where a food (green vegetables and leafy greens are very common) is cooked in boiling water and then dunked in an ice bath directly after. There are many reasons to blanch food, like to keep veggies fresh in canned or frozen products or to make peeling nuts like almonds faster and easier.

For this recipe, I blanched the parsley to keep that beautiful, vibrant green color intact. If the parsley is simply chopped and mixed into the dressing, it will quickly lose its color after hitting the hot broth. I love the pop of brightness (both in flavor and aesthetics!) that the parsley brings, so blanching ensures that this soup looks gorgeous on a dreary January day.

This step is optional, however. If you’re short on time and energy, blanching the parsley can be skipped altogether. You won’t get the pop of color, but this cabbage soup and herby dressing will taste just as wonderful.

The key to the perfect parmesan rind broth

Parmesan broth should be every vegetarian’s best friend. I love veggie broth, but there’s just a certain richness and depth of flavor that parmesan broth has that is so unique and addicting. I use parmesan broth as a staple, especially for soups that are broth-forward.

To make the perfect parmesan broth, there are a couple of key steps that you can’t skip.

First, it’s important to have parmesan rinds that are bulky and have quite a bit of parmesan cheese left on them. Don’t toss a whole chunk of parmesan in the broth because it will fall apart and become gritty, but if there is some cheese attached to the rind, make good use of it! The natural saltiness and fattiness of the cheese will give that rich depth that you’re looking for, so don’t use a skimpy parmesan rind.

Second, and for this recipe specifically, it’s important to caramelize the leeks, shallots and lemon before adding the spices, water and parmesan rind. Think of time as flavor insurance; the longer these ingredients caramelize, the more flavor the broth will have. If the leeks, shallots and lemon aren’t golden brown on all sides, the parmesan broth will fall flat. Have patience and trust the process!

How to start the broth

Like I said before, if you give this broth plenty of time and patience, it will turn out incredible. The ingredients do all the heavy lifting for you which is what makes this broth so simple and delicious. Here’s how to make it:

• Remove the top and bottom of the shallots and halve them lengthwise. Remove the green parts from the leek and halve the white part lengthwise.
• Drain the pot you boiled the parsley in. Set it back over medium heat and coat the bottom with 1/4 cup of olive oil. Let this heat up for a few minutes.
• Place the center of the lemon, the bottom of the garlic, the shallots and the leek into the hot oil, searing them all cut-side-down for 3-4 minutes or until they are deeply golden brown. Flip and sear the other sides, making sure the lemon is caramelized on both sides.
• Add the oregano, thyme, bay leaves, red pepper flakes and parmesan rinds to the pot. Cover with 8 cups of water. Bring this to a simmer and season with 2 teaspoons of kosher salt.
• Let this simmer for 60-90 minutes to make the parmesan broth. The longer it goes, the more flavor it will build.

Baking the cabbage, and pulling this soup together

Once the broth is simmering, all that’s left to do is bake the cabbage and finish the dressing. I love roasting cabbage because it gets tender in the center and slightly crisp on the edges, adding great texture to whatever I use it in. If this is your first time roasting cabbage, get ready to have a new favorite go-to!

• When the broth has 45 minutes left, preheat the oven to 425°F.
• Thinly slice the cabbage and add it to an unlined baking sheet. It’s ok if it’s a little crowded. Drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and mix to coat.
• Roast the cabbage for 20-30 minutes or until golden and crispy on the edges and softened in the center.
• While the cabbage is roasting, remove the parsley mixture from the fridge. Finely chop the capers and add them in, along with the juice from the two lemon wedges, the white wine vinegar, a large pinch of salt and a few cracks of black pepper. Drizzle in three tablespoons of olive oil. Taste and season with more salt, pepper and vinegar as preferred.
• When the cabbage is out of the oven, pour the parsley dressing all over it. Mix to coat.
• At this time the parmesan broth should be done. Use a slotted spoon to skim all the ingredients out of the pot, leaving behind just the rich umami broth. Taste and season with salt as needed.
• To serve, pile the herby cabbage in a bowl. Pour the parmesan broth right over it and grate on some more fresh parmesan. Serve warm.

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