Baked Cabbage Salad with Winter Romesco
This salad is comforting, wholesome and filling. Paired with bits of crispy garlic, sage and nuts, creamy ricotta and bright romesco, it's a salad I'll have on repeat all winter. If you're cooking to make this salad a meal, this recipe will work for about 2 servings. If you're looking to use it as a side dish, it's fit to serve about 4!
Equipment
- 2 half sheet pans
- 1 skillet or pan
- 1 small blender
Ingredients
- 1 small savoy cabbage
- 1 medium delicata squash
- 2 tbsp olive oil plus more as needed
- 1 small yellow onion
- 5 cloves garlic
- 3/4 cup fresh sage
- 1/4 cup pecan halves
- 2 tbsp pepitas
- 1/2 cup roasted red peppers from the jar
- 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1/4 tsp each Diamond Crystal kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper plus more to taste
- 1/3 cup whole milk ricotta
- 2 slices thick sourdough bread
Instructions
- Set the oven to 400°F.
- Remove the core from the cabbage and thinly slice it. Scatter on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Drizzle with about a teaspoon of olive oil, and season with a small amount of salt and pepper.
- Cut the delicata squash in half and remove the seeds. Thinly slice into half-moon pieces. Scatter on an unlined baking sheet and toss with salt and pepper.
- Roast the cabbage and the squash in the oven for 20-25 minutes, or until some cabbage pieces are browned and crisp and the squash is roasted and browning on the bottom.
- While the vegetables are roasting, thinly slice the onion and the garlic cloves. Remove the sage leaves from their stems and set aside.
- Put a pan on medium heat. In the dry pan, add the pecans and pepitas and cook until they are toasted and fragrant, about 2-3 minutes. Remove and set half in a bowl for the topping, and half in a small blender.
- Put 1-2 tbsp of oil in the pan and let it come to temperature. Add half of the garlic and let it "fry" quickly, getting brown and crispy. This will take about 1-2 minutes. Remove from the pan and add to the bowl for the topping. Repeat this process with half the sage leaves, frying until they are crispy. Remove and add to the toppings bowl.
- Keep the pan on medium heat and add the onion. Add more olive oil if needed. Cook for 4-5 minutes or until the onion is translucent and soft. Add the remaining garlic and sage, cooking until the garlic is soft and the sage is aromatic, another 2-3 minutes.
- Add the cooked onion mixture into the small blender. Add in the roasted red peppers, red wine vinegar, paprika, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Blend until smooth and season with salt, pepper and vinegar as needed.
- Season the toppings bowl with a pinch of salt, and roughly chop up the ingredients.
- When the cabbage is out of the oven, dress it with the romesco sauce right on the pan (add as much or as little as you prefer!) Pour in the delicata squash and mix again.
- To serve, pile the salad on top of a toasted piece of sourdough with a thick smear of ricotta. Add the roasted pepitas topping and serve!