Napa Cabbage Gratin - A Meatless Thanksgiving

by Marisa McClellan, Posted Nov 19th 2008 @ 1:00PM

This Napa Cabbage Gratin is easy to prepare and can be served directly in the pan you cooked it in, which always thrills me. If you want your table to be a little more elegant, you can transfer the cooked cabbage into a casserole dish and then finish it in the oven in the new vessel. I used Napa cabbage because it softens up nicely, but you could us a different cabbage variety if you'd like. Just make sure to adjust the cooking times accordingly.

Napa Cabbage Gratin

1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced
3 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon fresh or dried thyme leaves
1 large head of napa cabbage, thinly sliced
1/2 cup cream
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 cup bread crumbs

In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onion and thyme leaves and sweat until translucent. Add the cabbage, turn it into the onions and butter until everything glistens and put a lid on the veggies to allow the cabbage to cook down a bit. After seven or eight minutes, remove the lid, add salt, pepper, nutmeg and cream. Stir to incorporate and replace the lid. Let the cabbage simmer in the cream for a few moments.

Meanwhile, mix the parmesan cheese and breadcrumbs in a small bowl. Check the cabbage. If it's cooked down and seems tender to the tooth, remove it from the heat and sprinkle the breadcrumbs on (it's at this point that you would transfer the cabbage to a different casserole dish, if you don't want to serve it in the pan you've cooked it in thus far). Bake at 425 degrees until the topping is brown and bubbly, like you see in the picture above.