I love spiced red cabbage, especially at Christmas. This version is spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and star anise and sweetened with the addition of Bramley apples and dried cranberries.
If I'm honest, I never really measure the spices, just sprinkle some over each layer - although you do need to be careful with the ground cloves!
Adjust the amount of cranberries, depending on how sweet you like your spiced red cabbage. Alternatively, you can always add a spoonful or two of cranberry sauce or jelly to the finished dish (or leave it out altogether!).
600g red cabbage (after the core and outer leaves removed)
2 large white onions
2 large Bramley cooking apples
1 tablespoon of dried cinnamon
Pinch of ground cloves
Nutmeg
2-4 star anise
Dried cranberries
2-3 tablespoons of brown sugar
2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar
15g butter
Seasoning
- Pre-heat the oven to 160°C.
- Remove the tough outer leaves from the cabbage, cut in half and then remove the core.
- Finely slice the cabbage and set aside.
- Peel and finely dice the onions.
- Peel, core and cut the apples into small dice.
- In a large, ovenproof, lidded casserole dish, add a layer of cabbage, followed by a layer of onion and apple.
- Scatter over some of the cinnamon and sugar, a pinch of ground cloves, a star anise and a grating of nutmeg.
- Now throw over a handful of dried cranberries.
- Season.
- Now repeat the layers until the cabbage, onion and apples have been used.
- Add the red wine vinegar.
- Cut the butter into small chunks and scatter over the top.
- Cover with a lid and place in the oven for 1 hour and 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and stir ever 30 minutes.
- At the end of the cooking time, test the cabbage and cook for longer if required.
- Once the cabbage has cooled a little, check the seasoning and adjust as needed.
