Sweet and Sour Cabbage

Friuli is located in the northeast corner of Italy. The various neighbors and prior ruling powers of this beautiful region heavily influenced the cuisine of this region. People new to Italian cuisine are typically surprised to find that this regions cuisine is more like Austria than it is Italy.

This specific cabbage dish is common all over Italy but is spiced differently depending on the region. This version is very indicative of Friuli.

Sweet and Sour Cabbage – Cavalo in Agro Dolce
Serves 4

Ingredients:

½ tablespoon of canola oil
1 red onion, thinly sliced
2 small heads red cabbage, thinly sliced (about 8 cups raw)
1 tablespoon agave
2 tablespoons wine vinegar
1 cup of pinot grigio
1 teaspoon caraway seeds
1 cup golden raisins

Directions:

Sauté the onion in the canola oil until it is caramelized. Add the remaining ingredients and cook over low heat for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. You want the cabbage to be soft and the flavors to have married. This dish gets better overnight in the refrigerator. If possible make it the day before you want to serve it.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 299.61
Calories From Fat (8%) - 24.94

Total Fat - 2.87g
Saturated Fat - 0.3g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 91.04mg
Potassium - 1448.35mg
Total Carbohydrates - 58.29g
Fiber - 12.93g
Sugar - 22.19g
Protein - 7.21g

Comments:

This dish is similar to German braised cabbage. If you like German food you will like this dish. Hot crushed peppers can be added to this to make it spicy as well as sweet and sour and that would work well. I choose to make potato gnocchi with this dish because I love the combination of cabbage and potato. This dish could just a easily be served with the whole wheat spaetzle I posted a week or so ago.