Chicken Cabbage Magical Deliciousness
Also known as, “Theresa didn’t have the ingredients to make the runza recipe her cousin sent her, so she improvised.”
Just made this the other night, and it was fantastic! Since several of my friends have asked for the recipe, I am posting here for your delight & amazement.
Given the amount of McGyvering that went on, coming up with a recipe was a challenge. But this is pretty much the way to make a flaky, runza-esque omnomlicious dinner.
Ready? Here we go.
Preheat Oven to 375F. Have a cookie sheet or baking stone, sprayed with oil, ready to go.
You’ll need:
- 1/2 to 1 package of Pepperidge Farm puff pastry, thawed
- Thinly sliced chicken breast (I used maybe 1/2#)
- 1T vegetable oil (or so) if not using a non-stick pan
- 1/2 medium white onion
- 1/2 a head of green cabbage
- 1/2 C water + 1/2 C chicken broth, combined
- Dijon mustard (to taste; I used approx 1T)
- Salt & pepper
Instructions:
Chop onion into small pieces.
Heat oil in skillet on medium and add onion. While onion is cooking, cut thin chicken breast pieces into much smaller pieces, almost julienned. (Remember, these are going to have to go into a pastry, so they need to be small).
Add chicken to the onion, and sprinkle with salt & pepper. Cook until chicken is cooked through. Add Dijon mustard and let simmer on low heat while you’re doing the next step.
Cut cabbage into thin strips, or put through the shredding blade of your food processor (or easier still, buy pre-shredded at the grocer, and have a glass of wine for 5 mins or so).
SAFETY FIRST: Remember if you’re cutting the cabbage to use a different cutting board than the one you used for the chicken.
Add cabbage to the skillet with chicken and onions. Pour in the water/chicken broth mixture and increase heat until the liquid is bubbling.
My cousin and I do something different here - she cooks it down without a cover; I put a lid on it, reduced the heat slightly, and set a timer for 15 mins. Whatever you choose to do, cook this until the cabbage has been cooked and is soft.
BEFORE
AFTER
While the cabbage is cooking, consider your pastry strategy. Yes, pastry strategy.
I suggest this only because I didn’t. I’ve never used puff pastry before, but it’s all I had in the freezer, so I was learning on the spot. I would have probably either used an entire package, or made them all large. (This is why I say you might want to use the entire package in my ingredients list above.)
When you’re done putting filling on the bottom piece and adding the top, seal it using your fingers or a fork. This isn’t pretty - I would probably make them look nicer if this had been for guests - but it worked for me:
At this point, you can brush an egg wash over them, or if you don’t want to waste an egg would rather, you can mist them with a little oil (I used vegetable oil in a pump sprayer) or leave them alone. They’ll get golden and yummy just fine without the egg wash or oil.
Put them in the oven @ 375F for about 35-45 minutes.
Let them cool a bit (CAUTION: CONTENTS ARE HOT) and enjoy!
