This way of cooking red cabbage has become a favourite. It’s got quite a kick, an aniseedy tang from caraway and is surprisingly interesting with pasta. It would be good with sausages, chicken or red meat but is possibly best of all eaten cold as a relish with cheese. Remember it too for sandwiches and under cheese on toast for a savoury we call Mousehole rarebit (because I cooked it so often at the Fish Store when I had a constant supply of red cabbage from a neighbour’s allotment).
Serves 4-6
Prep: 25 min
Cook: 75 min
500g red cabbage
2 large red onions
2 garlic cloves
2 tbsp olive oil
½ tsp caraway seeds
1 lemon
1 tsp dried chilli flakes
400g can chopped tomatoes
Halve, core and shred the cabbage. Soak in cold water while you prepare everything else, then drain thoroughly. Halve, peel and finely slice the onion. Peel the garlic and cut into thin rounds. Use a potato peeler to remove the zest from the lemon in small scraps. Heat the oil in a heavy bottomed pan over a moderate heat and stir in the onions and lightly crushed caraway seeds. Season with 1 tsp salt, reduce the heat slightly, cover and cook, stirring a couple of times, for 10 minutes. Stir in the cabbage, stir again, cover and cook for a further 10 minutes. Add the lemon zest and chilli flakes. Return the lid and cook over a very low heat for 30 minutes. Add the tomatoes and cook, covered, for 20 minutes. Add the juice from the lemon then taste and adjust the seasoning with salt.