Hispi or sweetheart cabbage is such a delicious treat for winter and makes for a great vegetarian side dish. But what is the best way to cook this cabbage? It's roasting and topping it with deliciously crisp, seasoned pangrattato or breadcrumbs and serving it on a bed of Greek yogurt. You can make this with other types of cabbage too. This is my favourite way to cook cabbage and this is a pushy recipe Dear Reader!
What is A Hispi Cabbage?
I always get excited whenever I get a hispi cabbage in my vege box. I had never seen one before a year or two ago and I love its conical shape and how versatile it is. A hispi cabbage is also called a sweetheart, sugarloaf, conehead or pointed cabbage and is given its name because the shape of the cabbage somewhat resembles a heart, cone or point. Hispi is an ancient cabbage variety native to the Filder, a fertile plain south of Stuttgart in Germany.
Hispi cabbage is a mild and sweet flavoured cabbage. It also cooks quickly so it's an ideal to work with. It is said to be the favoured cabbage to use in sauerkraut. Hispi cabbage also comes in a red variety as well as green. The leaves of a hispi cabbage are thin, tender and smooth and are loosely packed with gaps between each layer. It contains vitamins C and K and fibre.
If I don't shred cabbage to make into a coleslaw (which is something I usually do in summer), during winter I always roast cabbage because it really brings out the sweetness of the cabbage. This hispi cabbage recipe is easiness personified and we eat it as a vegetarian side dish or on its own with some bread. While the cabbage is roasting in the oven all you have to do is make the pangrattato that takes around 5 minutes. Then spread the yogurt on a platter, position the four sections of roasted cabbage on top and then spoon over the pangrattato. That's it and honestly it looks and tastes like it came from a restaurant!
The only thing I will say that you need to get is Muraca spicy hot cream peppers. I may seem like a spokesperson for them but I'm just a big fan and this isn't sponsored at all. I'm also working on a Muraca dupe recipe once chillies are back in season (it's super easy to make). Muraca really brings this whole dish together and there's something really lovely about the sweet cabbage, crunchy and spicy pangrattato and cooling yogurt. And if you don't have hispi cabbage, then you can use other varieties like green cabbage, red cabbage or wombok!
Every time I get a cabbage I make this but there are no complaints. Mr NQN loves it as much as I do and it's gotten so easy to make especially if you want something tasty to go along with a meat or pasta main. The pangrattato is so delicious and versatile and really you could add these to any roasted vegetable in place of shredded parmesan. I have made this so much that I could probably do it in my sleep.
Speaking of practice makes perfect, a friend of mine Sophia has been practicing driving. She has her full license but is a reluctant driver. Usually when we go out, I drive to her house and pick her up and we drive together but she lives a but further out and it's a bit of a pain to do especially if I am having a really busy day or I'm tired and just want to go to bed. So I suggested to her that she drive to my house and then we go from there. She was a bit hesitant as it is a 10 minute drive but she decided that today was going to be the day.
She arrived a couple of minutes early and rang the doorbell and we left for lunch in my car. I asked her how her driving practice was going and she told me how she loved driving at night because she's such a slow driver and there are less cars on the road. I said that I hated driving at night because of the low visibility and my contact lenses don't do well with headlights as they make them seem like sunbursts. I guess it depends on what you're used to as well, I do most of my driving in congested city roads so it doesn't bother me.
We pulled up to my house and it was a busy Sunday afternoon so the street was busy with cars. Although we are supposed to live on a quiet street, some houses have up to half a dozen cars so parking can be a challenge. I went up and down back and forth groaning in frustation. There was one car that had parked so that only half a car could fit between the driveway and the back of the car. That's a pet peeve of mine because if people just parked a bit more considerately then we could all fit a bit better. "If this car parked better then I could fit behind it. What a d^&*" I said frustrated.
"Um that's me," said Sophia giggling.
Oops!!
So tell me Dear Reader, when did you last put your foot in your mouth? Have you ever tried hispi cabbage?
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