Braised Cabbage with Sausages and Tomato – Step-by-Step Recipe
I'm very fond of braised cabbage with frankfurters or knackwurst added – a simple, filling main dish made from everyday products. The ingredient list has only the vegetables you'll find in any fridge – white cabbage, onion and carrot, plus sauerkraut if you like. Almost any sausages will do, as long as they are good quality and sold in the shop around the corner.
As a friend of mine says, it's hard to call modern frankfurters a meat dish. Oddly enough, though, tasty and well-made frankfurters and other sausages have lately become the rule rather than the exception. If you like, use veal or pork ones, knackwurst, even bologna-style cooked sausage. Chicken or turkey frankfurters are perfectly fine too.
The cooking process resembles a simple bigos, which is considered a delicacy in our home and is made for the holidays. But when cabbage is braised with ribs and prunes, it takes quite a long time. Besides, that dish has only cabbage with a minimum of additions, and tomato is never added. For quick cooking the simplified way, it makes perfect sense to use ready-made sausages, and tomato to give the dish colour.
Braised cabbage dishes get a special flavour when you add a little of the fermented kind. We have sauerkraut at home almost all year round, and it's used both for cooking and as a simple appetizer. My mum ferments it in jars – for the whole family – and tops up the supply as needed. By the way, ordinary white cabbage is always on hand too: it's a very cheap vegetable that is always in demand.
Naturally, you should buy real meat products, not soy imitations. It's very handy if the frankfurters or knackwurst peel easily or – I saw these for the first time recently – are sold without casings at all. The dish is delicious when made with stuffed sausages cooked on a grill or over charcoal.
While the cabbage is braising with the vegetables, get the sausages ready to go into the dish. If you've decided to add grilled sausages, they must be cooked through, because the meat braises in the dish for only a short time. And the flavour of browned sausages gives the cabbage wonderful notes. Cooked frankfurters should be carefully peeled, if they have casings, and cut into large pieces. It's highly advisable to fry the frankfurters in oil before adding them to the dish.
Ingredients
2 servings
- White cabbage 500 g
- Sauerkraut 300 g
- Frankfurters 250 g
- Carrot 1
- Onion 1
- Tomato paste 1 tbsp
- Garlic 1 clove
- Vegetable oil 50 ml
- Salt, black pepper to taste
Step-by-step recipe
- With how busy we all are and how little time there is, braised cabbage with sausages can be the dish that is easy to make and needs very little of your attention. It's filling and works nicely for a small get-together if guests turn up unexpectedly. The cabbage and vegetables, the sausages and the other ingredients, if you don't have them in the fridge, can be bought in a shop near home. By the way, don't forget to buy fresh bread.
- It's convenient to cook in a large frying pan with a lid or a small cast-iron pot that sits well on your stove. Pour almost all the vegetable oil into the pan – keep back 1 tbsp or less for frying the frankfurters. Cut up all the vegetables in advance. Peel the onion and carrot. Dice the onion and fry it in the vegetable oil until soft and just starting to brown. Cut the carrot into small cubes as well and fry it together with the onion for 2-3 mins.
- If you've decided to add sauerkraut, which makes the dish taste much better, squeeze out some of the brine and add it to the fried vegetables. Shred the white cabbage finely with a knife and add it to the pan. Stir the cabbage gently, if you can manage it. It is quite loose and may fly all over the kitchen. Once it settles, it will be easy to stir. Add 0.5 cup of water to the pan and cover with the lid.
- When the liquid comes to a boil, turn the heat down and leave the cabbage to braise for 40-45 mins. Stir the vegetables from time to time so that they cook evenly. Meanwhile, prepare the frankfurters or other sausages of your choice. Be sure to peel the casings off the frankfurters. Then cut them into large pieces, 1.5-2 cm in size. Heat 1 tbsp of vegetable oil in a sauté pan and fry the pieces until lightly browned.
- Braised cabbage with sausages will be even tastier if you use grilled sausages or even homemade sausage baked in the oven. Before adding them to the dish, reheat them, or fry them until done if they are raw. Moisture from the vegetables may collect in the pan. In that case, take off the lid and turn the heat up a little – the liquid will evaporate in 5-10 mins. Pepper the cabbage to taste, and salt it carefully – the sauerkraut may already contain enough salt.
- Add a heaped tablespoon of tomato paste and stir. Cover the pan with the lid and braise the vegetables over low heat for 10 mins. Then add all the prepared frankfurters, stir and braise for another 10 mins. Finally, sprinkle the cabbage with finely chopped garlic, turn off the heat and let it stand for 3-4 mins. The garlic is optional, though. After that the dish is completely ready.
- You can use savoy cabbage for this dish: it is more tender and cooks more easily, although its smell and taste are a little unusual. Poultry frankfurters and knackwurst give a good result, as does tender smoked meat cut into large cubes. At the start you can add 1-2 bay leaves to the cabbage and discard them later.
- Serve the dish very hot. It goes beautifully with fresh bread. I like to give the cabbage an extra grinding of fresh, coarsely ground black pepper before serving.
Yield: 2 servings Calories: 100 Prep: 15 mins Cook: 1 h 15 mins Total: 1 h 30 mins Category: Main Dishes Cuisine: European Rating: