Braised red cabbage with candied pumpkin seeds
This fits into the fresh and bright category of Christmas sides. It is always on my Christmas table and often ends up as the thing I (surprisingly) enjoy the most.
I use a mixture of sherry and red wine vinegar but you could use one or the other. I use lemon instead of the more traditional orange here but you could easily swap.
Christmas gives cinnamon a free pass into almost every dish which I have mixed opinions about, if you like cinnamon in your red cabbage add a stick whilst it’s cooking and make sure you take it out as it cools.
Make ahead, storage and reheating
The cabbage can be made all the way to the end (without topping with the pumpkin seeds) and can be stored for up to a week in the fridge or 3 months in the freezer.
To reheat, defrost at room temperature if frozen and then reheat on medium low in a pan until piping hot adding more water if it looks dry.
Leftovers
This is great in a leftovers sandwich it can also be used in my red cabbage soup the recipe is here.
- Duration
- 1hr +
- Serves
- 6-8
Ingredients
For the cabbage
- 2 tablespoons or rapeseed or olive oil
- 2 red onions, peeled and thinly sliced
- 1 large red cabbage (about total 1kg), halved and cut into thin ribbons
- a few sprigs of thyme
- 2 apples, grated
- 3 tablespoons dark brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
- 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- Juice and peel of a lemon
- 2 knobs of butter
For the pumpkin seed crunch
- 100g of pumpkin seeds
- 2 tablespoons of honey or maple
- sea salt
Prepare your cabbage
Use a sharp knife to shred 1 large red cabbage as thinly as you can.
Sweat the onions
In a large heavy bottomed pan with a lid, heat the 2 tablespoons of olive oil and cook 2 peeled and thinly sliced red onions for 10 minutes until soft and sweet.
Add the cabbage and apple
Stir in the shredded cabbage, two grated apples, and a good pinch of salt. Next add a few sprigs of thyme, 3 tablespoons of dark brown sugar, 2 tablespoons of sherry vinegar and 3 of red wine vinegar and stir. Put the lid on and cook for 25-40 minutes until the cabbage is a deep dark purple and the vinegar has lost its punch. How long you cook it for will depend on how soft you like your cabbage. I think the sweet spot is about 25 minutes.
Make the pumpkin seed crunch
Toast the 100g pumpkin seeds in a dry pan on medium heat until they start to pop and are golden brown. Whilst they are still hot, drizzle over 2 tablespoons of the honey or maple syrup, add a pinch of salt and transfer to a plate to cool.
Serve
Serve with the candied pumpkin seeds sprinkled over.
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