Since owning my allotment I have ended up trying new foods and finding out that I do in fact like vegetables that I had previously turned my nose up at (I used to be extremely fussy!) Cabbage is one of those vegetables that I have fallen in love with and because my Dad was already set on growing white cabbages I decided to grow some red. I only planted one row of red cabbages at the beginning of the year and all 6 of them produced beautiful heads, although some are rather smaller than others. The only dilemma I have is that we are struggling to eat them and they are on the verge of rotting in all this wet weather we are having. It seems that over winter I need to thoroughly plan my allotment out, decide what to grow and be strict with succession planting.
Now because it has been so miserable and wet lately I thought I would try adding my red cabbage to a soup and I’m pleased to say that it was a great success and surprisingly very yummy! This is a very hearty soup, perfect for warming you up after working up the allotment in the cold, and it is also the perfect way to use up all those cabbages too. Enjoy!
Red Cabbage, Sausage and Haricot Bean Soup
Prep Time: 25 Minutes
Cook Time: 35 Minutes
Ingredients:
- 1 tin of haricot beans (or a handful of dried borlotti beans which have been soaked!)
- 2 tablespoons of cornflour
- 6 cups of vegetable stock
- 1lb of potatoes
- 2 leeks
- 3 garlic cloves
- 6 pork sausages
- 1/2 lb of red cabbage (half of a large head)
- 1/2 a cup of thick double cream
- Salt and Pepper to taste
Instructions:
- Heat some olive oil in a pan and add the garlic and leeks, cooking for 4 minutes and stirring often.
- Fry the sausages until they brown.
- In a bowl combine the corn flour with 1/2 a cup of vegetable stock until the cornflour dissolves. Pour the mixture into the pot containing the leeks and garlic and cook for 2 minutes. Add the remaining vegetable stock, potatoes and the sausages into the pot. Season with salt and pepper, bring to the boil and then simmer for 20 minutes.
- Take off the heat, remove the sausages and use a hand blender to mash up the potatoes and leeks. Cut up the sausages and add back to the pot, adding the shredded red cabbage and haricot beans. Cook for 10 minutes then stir in the cream and cook for a further 5 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and serve into hot bowls.
8 thoughts on “The Red Cabbage Glut”
I’ve never tried red cabbage before! But that soup looks amazing! I’m wondering what the calorie intake is for it?!?!
I have no idea about the calorie intake I’m afraid Helen. Not sure how I could calculate it either :S Surely it must be good for you with all the veg inside it, I hope so anyway because I’ll be living off it this winter! 😀
For the first time since I was a kid I’ve been steaming Cabbage with broccoli and cauliflower … I guess tastes really do change :-).
Nice looking recipe too BTW. I’ve whacked sausages in all sorts of odd things. Friends and I threw together a bolognese concoction on the last night of a camping expedition recently and it was yummy! One friend made another one on purpose a few weeks later.
Haha! I’m the same with chorizo, it’s going in most meals these days
Great idea! The recipe sounds very good and I will give it a try soon. I am getting bored by always having red cabbage cooked as a side. This is a great alternative. Thank you for sharing!
No problem at all Sabrina, I share your boredom with cabbage! Especially when you have half a head for dinner which means you have to eat the other half the next day before it goes off. So you can pop it in a soup instead!
I have always struggled to grow red cabbages, no idea why they are such a challenge though. Well done on your harvest.
My favourite way to eat it is braised with onion and apple, with fennel and caraway seeds. It’s a great side to chicken or pork.
I managed to create a little fortress to grow them in so the little butterflies and caterpillars couldn’t reach them which may have helped? Half of them were rather small which was strange but still the perfect size portion for 3 people Next year I might try growing them closer together to get smaller heads.
Sounds delicious! I usually eat ours as a side but when you only use half a head one night you have to have the other half for the next day, and I’m fussy like that!