Seasonal recipe No 18 – Braised red cabbage with apples

A classic recipe for slow-cooked red cabbage and apple from Delia Smith’s Complete Cookery Course.

Serves: 4

Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 2½-3 hours

900g red cabbage
450g onions, chopped small
450g cooking apples, peeled, cored and chopped small
3 tbsp wine vinegar
3 tbsp brown sugar
1 clove garlic, chopped very small
¼ whole nutmeg, freshly grated
¼ level tsp ground cinnamon
¼ level tsp ground cloves
10g butter
salt, black pepper

Preheat oven to 150C/gas mark 2.

Discard any tough outer leaves of the cabbage, cut it into quarters and remove the hard stalk, then shred it finely.

In a fairly large casserole, arrange a layer of shredded cabbage seasoned with salt and pepper, then a layer of chopped onions and apples with a sprinkling of garlic, spices and sugar. Continue with these alternate layers until everything is in.

Now pour in the wine vinegar, add the butter, put a lid on the casserole and let it cook very slowly in the oven for about 2½-3 hours, stirring everything around once or twice during the cooking.

Once cooked, it will keep warm without coming to any harm. It will also reheat very successfully so it can be made in advance.