Cabbage and Potatoes with Smoked Sausages
Simple Recipes Potatoes Budget Recipes Vegetables Romanian
In Salaj, the combination of potatoes and cabbage (either sauerkraut or fresh) is common. It's usually preferred in winter and during fasting periods (with dairy!). This weekend I visited my grandmother, and when we remembered this combination, I really craved it. We eat something like this less often. If I ask my grandmother why she doesn't make it for us, she tells me it's not food for guests 😊 I wonder how many super delicious traditional dishes I've missed for this reason.
Yesterday I made a simplified version, with smoked sausages (homemade, of course) and Austro-Hungarian influences. The original version remains for another time, when we have more time, as it's more laborious.
Ingredients
1 small cabbage (approx. 700-800 g; fresh)
3-4 medium starchy potatoes (500 g)
1 large onion
150 g lightly smoked homemade sausages
3/4 teaspoon ground caraway
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon vinegar
a few sprigs of parsley
4 tablespoons oil
salt
Servings: 4
How to prepare cabbage and potatoes with smoked sausages
- Cut the cabbage into thin strips (using a grater like this or with a knife as described here) and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of salt. Knead well until the cabbage loses its volume, you feel it soften, and your hands get wet. Let it sit like this until needed.
- Use a wide pot. In the hot oil, saute the finely chopped onion over low heat until slightly soft (about 5 minutes).
- Add the sausages cut into slices and saute, stirring a few times, until they start to brown lightly.
* our homemade sausages are made with paprika; if yours don't have paprika, add 1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika before adding the cabbage to give the stew some color
** the sausages used are only lightly smoked (I keep them in the freezer and they cannot be eaten uncooked), don't use fully dried ones - Add the cabbage in three batches, letting it cook for 2-3 minutes between each addition. After adding all the cabbage, let it saute for another 10 minutes, stirring a few times, to cook evenly.
- Meanwhile, peel the potatoes and cut them into cubes. Add them over the cabbage, along with the caraway and pepper. Mix very well, so everything settles properly in the pot. Add just enough water to cover everything (about 2 1/2 cups).
- Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer with the lid very slightly ajar for 40-45 minutes. Towards the end, taste the food for salt and caraway.
- Add the vinegar and chopped parsley and let it boil just once more. Stir gently and the potatoes will break up a bit, thus binding the sauce. It's good warm. It's good reheated.
Sauté the onion and sausages
Add the cabbage, potatoes, seasonings and water
The dish is ready
