Cabbage & Sausage Casserole
Easy, simple, delicious and one dish (well, two if you count the bowl the mustard and cabbage are tossed in!) what more could you ask for.
This uncomplicated cabbage and sausage recipe takes just a few ingredients, and about 10 minutes of prep time.
The cabbage is shredded and tossed with a little grainy mustard, salt and pepper. The sausage is removed from its casing and roughly broken up/crumbled. Everything gets layered into a buttered baking dish. A few dots of butter on the top and the dish is ready to go into the oven for a long, slow bake.
While it cooks, the flavours from the sausage meld together with the cabbage and the cabbage melts down until it is deliciously soft and succulent.
To serve, all you need is some crusty bread and a little grainy mustard on the side.
The Cabbage
Cabbage is an often overlooked, and under-rated vegetable, which is a shame as it has a lot going for it. Not only is it inexpensive, it’s low on calories, and provides a good amount of fibre and vitamin C. Available year-round, cabbage is at its peak during the cold fall and winter months, making it possible to have a fresh, locally grown vegetable even in the middle of winter in Ontario.
For this dish I like to use Napa or savoy cabbage, but your everyday green or cannonball cabbage will work just as well. Altogether you will need about 6-8 cups of shredded cabbage.
The Sausage
Sausage and cabbage are two ingredients that just seem to be made for each other.
For this dish you can use pretty much any type of fresh sausage, so feel free to use your favorite. I’ve made different version of this dish using farmhouse sausages, bratwurst, as well as mild and hot Italian sausages. All work equally well, with each adding their own unique flavour to the dish.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons grainy mustard
- 1 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon vinegar
- pinch of salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 3 fresh sausages (mild or hot Italian, bratwurst, or whatever your preference)
- 1 medium savoy or napa cabbage cored and thickly shredded (about 6 – 8 cups shredded)
Instructions
- Heat oven to 300 degrees. Core and roughly shred the cabbage and place in a large bowl. Whisk the mustard, olive oil, and vinegar together, pour over the cabbage. Season with a pinch of salt and some freshly ground black pepper and toss to coat.
- Butter a 9-by-13-by-2-inch baking dish. Remove the sausage casings and discard them.
- Place 1/3 of the cabbage in the buttered dish. Break apart the sausage meat, and crumble half over top of the cabbage. Repeat, ending with a final layer of cabbage, and dot the top with butter.
- Cover the dish tightly with aluminum foil. Place in the oven and cook for 2 1/2hours.
- At the11/2-hour point, uncover the dish and spoon some of the juices released by the cabbage over the top. Re-cover the dish and return it to the oven to cook for another hour, checking the liquid level halfway through the hour. If there is a lot of liquid in the bottom cook uncovered for the final ½ hour. If not, re-cover and finish cooking. The cabbage will be soft, and the top will be lightly browned.
- Serve with warm crusty bread and grainy mustard on the side