Stuffed cabbage cake filled with risotto and served with caramelized carrots, an elegant vegetarian festive meal.
This porcini risotto wrapped up in savoy cabbage leaves makes a delicious vegetarian main meal for the holiday season. An incredibly delicious vegetarian stuffed cabbage cake, easier to make than you might think.
If the slow roasted turkey leg, roulades or beef roast is not an option for you on Christmas, this sumptuous risotto cake might be the answer. It looks festive, it is filling, it fits most of the vegetable side dishes you could think of.
And should you cook the Christmas dinner for both vegetarians and meat lovers, I can assure you that any meat lover would like a slice of this rice cake as well, either to accompany his piece of meat or on its own, because it just tastes so good.
The rice is creamy and somehow sticky, the flavor given by the mushrooms and the white wine amazing, and the caramelized carrot topping is a perfect fit.
What do you need?
Savoy cabbage:
- Only the larger outer leaves, about 8 to 12 depending on size.
- Use the leftover cabbage to make Baked Cabbage and Potatoes, Sauteed Savoy Cabbage with Bacon, or German Savoy Cabbage Soup.
Rice:
- Risotto rice, for instance Arborio, Carnaroli, or Vialone.
Mushrooms:
- Dried porcini mushrooms.
- They are gourmet Italian mushrooms with an amazing strong nutty flavor.
- A bit pricey, but a small pack goes a long way.
Cheese:
- I made this using vegetarian hard cheese.
- But of course, if you are not strictly cooking for vegetarians, you can use the regular Parmesan instead.
How to make stuffed cabbage cake?
- Prepare the porcini risotto.
- Blanch the savoy cabbage leaves and drain well.
- Line a small springform (about 20 cm/ 8 inches) with the savoy cabbage leaves leaving one extra to cover the top, if necessary. The leaves should hang over the edge of the form so that you can cover the rice with them later.
- Fill with the risotto and cover with the "hanging" leaves. Use the last leaf to cover the top, if necessary.
- Bake for about 15 minutes.
- In the meantime, roast the sesame seeds and make the caramelized carrots.
How to serve?
Turn the stuffed cabbage cake onto a round serving platter or large plate. Slice like a cake and serve with the carrots sprinkled with sesame seeds.
Make in advance:
You can make the risotto and build the cake a few hours in advance and then bake it for 25-30 minutes instead of the regular 15 minutes.
More stuffed cabbage recipes:
German Stuffed Savoy Cabbage Rolls
Stuffed Cabbage Cake
Ingredients
- Cabbage cake:
- 0.5 oz dried porcini 15 g
- 1 medium onion about 100 g/ 3.5 oz
- 1 medium carrot about 100 g/ 3.5 oz
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 ¼ cup risotto rice 250 g
- ½ cup dry white wine 125 ml
- 2 cups good-quality vegetable stock 500 ml
- 1 cup water from soaking the porcini 250 ml
- 2 tablespoons butter
- ⅓ cup freshly grated vegetarian hard cheese or Parmesan 50 g
- 8 large savoy cabbage leaves or 10-12 if they are not very large
- fine sea salt and pepper
- Caramelized carrots:
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
- 4 large carrots
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- ½ cup good vegetable stock 125 ml
- 1 tablespoon white balsamic vinegar
- fine sea salt and pepper
Instructions
Risotto:
- Soak mushrooms: According to the packet's instructions, rinse the porcini mushrooms and soak them in cold water for 20-30 minutes, according to the packet's instructions. Strain but keep the soaking water.
- Heat the stock in a small pot and keep it simmering on very low heat while cooking the risotto.
- Saute vegetables: In the meantime, finely chop the onion and the carrot. Heat the oil in a non-stick pan and cook the onion and the carrot until the onions are translucent.
- Add the risotto rice and stir for about 1 minute until the rice starts to get translucent.
- Add the white wine and keep stirring until the wine has cooked into the rice. Add a pinch of salt and stir.
- Start adding the vegetable stock and 1 cup of the soaking water one ladleful at a time while stirring very often. Only add the next ladleful of liquid when the rice has absorbed the previous one.
- Cook the rice for about 20 minutes or according to the packet's instructions. Keep tasting it towards the end of the cooking time; it should be cooked but still have a slight bite. If the rice is not entirely done yet, but you are out of stock, add some more of the porcini soaking water.
- Take off the heat and stir in the butter and the freshly grated hard cheese or Parmesan. Adjust the taste with salt and pepper.
Assemble and bake:
- Blanch cabbage leaves: While the risotto is cooking bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add a large pinch of salt when it starts boiling. Blanch the large savoy cabbage leaves in two batches for about 4 minutes each batch. Let drain well.
- Preheat the oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit (150 degrees Celsius). Butter a 20 cm/8-inch springform or cake pan.
- Line the springform with most of the savoy cabbage leaves, making sure that some of them hang over the edge of the form so that you can cover the rice with them later. I leave one leaf to finish the cake, just in case there are still gaps after covering the rice.
- Fill the form with the risotto and level the top. Turn the hanging leaves over the rice and place the last one on top if you still have some gaps; it might not be necessary.
- Bake the risotto “cake” for about 15 minutes. In the meantime, prepare the carrots.
Caramelized carrots:
- Roast the sesame seeds in a clean pan until they are fragrant. Transfer to a plate immediately.
- Peel the carrots and cut them into diagonal pieces.
- Cook carrots: Heat the butter and cook the carrots until glossy. Sprinkle the sugar on top and let caramelize. Add the vegetable stock and bring to a boil. Simmer for about 10 minutes until the carrots are al dente and a bit sticky.
- Add salt and pepper to taste and the white balsamic vinegar.
- Serve: Turn the risotto “cake” onto a serving plate and slice it. Serve with carrots sprinkled with sesame seeds.
Kate @ Framed Cooks says
Risotto Cake! What a great idea, and it looks so festive with the merry green color on the outside!
Angie@Angie's Recipes says
That's a fun recipe!
Allie says
What a delicious dish Adina, I had never heard of a risotto cake before. So pretty w/the savoy cabbage. Wishing you and yours a very merry Christmas season!
Dawn @ Girl Heart Food says
I love making lists too, Adina! I always have some sort of list ongoing 🙂 This looks delicious! I really enjoy making (and eating) risotto and this is such a great idea that it's wrapped in cabbage. Would love to try this one!
Brie says
What a show stopper! The savoy cabbage is unbelievably vibrant, like you just plucked it from the garden 🙂 Would love to enjoy this at our vegetarian Christmas table!
Evi @ greenevi says
What a delicious and beautiful dish! This would be so pretty on a Christmas table. I seriously love everything about this recipe 🙂