Cabbage and Savoy cabbage have been with us all winter and have given us an incredible variety of preparations. One of our favourite recipes is Rice cabbage rolls au gratin and it is for several reasons.

First, we like the name in Italian, “Valigini” meaning small suitcases, trolleys, because a small suitcase always contains something we take with us on a trip and maybe even a gift from a faraway place when we return… it gives us a foretaste of surprise. Then, we like it because it is an explosion of colours in a season that is not very lively.

Moreover, it is a delicacy that can be easily served as a one-course meal, both for its satiating power and for its nutritional composition: carbohydrates, vitamins and proteins. And finally, for the delicate but, at the same time, full and rich flavour of those surprises kept in our little suitcases: the sweetness of the raisins enhanced by the unmistakable savouriness of the pecorino cheese, the crunchiness of the cashews and the tenderness of the soft green cabbage that envelops them.

In short, a preparation that makes adults happy and makes kids forget that they are eating the often ‘hated’ vegetables.

Rice cabbage rolls au gratin

13.74g carbohydrates per 100g

Ingredients for 4 servings

800g cabbage cooking water
370g green cabbage (the 6 largest outer leaves)
150g purple cabbage
200g Carnaroli rice
50g Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, grated
50g raisins
40g red wine
30g cashews or Brazil nuts
30g Pecorino cheese, grated
25g extra virgin olive oil
25g spring onion
10g butter
salt and pepper

Preparation

Take 6 large leaves of green cabbage. Wash them and blanch them in boiling salted water for a few minutes; drain and throw them in cold water. Wait a few moments, drain them well on paper towels and keep the hot cooking water as vegetable stock.
Put a little oil in a pan, soften the thinly chopped spring onion, then add the thinly sliced purple cabbage in small pieces; after lightly browning, add a drop of water and cook the cabbage almost through, allowing the liquid to evaporate.

Rice preparation

Throw the rice in the pan with the cabbage and toast it well. Pour red wine and allow to evaporate, when the smell of alcohol has disappeared, start stirring the rice using the cooking water from the outer leaves. Add the soaked raisins and lightly chopped cashews and continue to roll the rice.

The rice ready for the stir-frying

When the rice is almost cooked, but still rather al dente, cream it with butter and Parmesan cheese; let it cool and spread it out on a rather large plate so that the rice does not brown: in this way, the risotto should be cooked to perfection after gratin.
Take the blanched leaves and cut them in half, removing the harder, thicker central rib. Place a heaped spoonful of risotto on each half and roll the cabbage forming a cylinder.