Pancetta Roasted Cabbage Steaks

Servings 4 generous or 8 smaller

Ingredients

1 small head of cabbage or 1/2 large head
olive oil
3 Tablespoons Italian seasoned panko bread crumbs
freshly grated romano cheese
2 ounces diced pancetta

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray or coat with a light layer of olive oil. (I like to line my sheet with foil for easy clean up.)
Prepare cabbage. Peel off any wilted cabbage leaves. Trim just the end of the stem to remove any brown or dry parts, leaving the full stem intact. You need the stem to keep the slices together. Slice cabbage into thick 3/4-1" slices.
Place slices on prepared baking sheet. Brush with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.
Sprinkle each slice evenly with bread crumbs. I used about 1/2 Tablespoon per slice. Then top with a light coating of freshly grated romano cheese.
Scatter diced pancetta over each slice, then drizzle each slice with olive oil.
Place baking sheet on a middle rack in oven. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven, cover tightly with foil and bake for another 20 minutes or until desired tenderness. Drizzle with a good quality aged balsamic vinegar before serving.

Recipe Notes

*I love using panko breadcrumbs for this because of their extra crispy texture. If you can't find seasoned panko, use plain. Then, mix with a sprinkle of onion powder, garlic powder and dried italian seasonings.

*To add a little freshness before serving, top with some fresh diced tomatoes right before drizzling with the balsamic vinegar.

*Use a good quality aged balsamic vinegar that is rich in color, thicker than just plain vinegar and has a nice balance of acidity and sweetness. Lower qualities will likely be too strong for the dish. Our vinegar was delicious and so we were pretty generous with our drizzles :)

*If you've got big veggie eaters, you could consider each steak one serving. Or, you could consider a 1/2 steak a serving. We each ate a full steak without issue. It will depend on the size of your cabbage as well. For this post, I used a 1/2 head of a large cabbage.