Summary of "Cabbage NEVER tasted so GOOD!"

Backyard Chef — Rick

Ingredients

Pork sausages (store-bought) — number unspecified
Potatoes — peeled and cubed
Onion — diced
Carrot — sliced or cubed
Cabbage — chopped / roughly cut
Garlic — a little, mashed (to taste)
Cooking oil — a little (for frying)
Butter — a little for sautéing + additional cold butter for dumplings (grated)
Stock / broth — a splash to start (beef gravy powder used as an optional boost)
Seasonings: salt, black pepper, dried thyme, sweet paprika
Worcestershire sauce — a little splash
Tomato purée — 1 heaped tablespoon
Water — a little for boiling sausages and for dumpling dough

Dumplings

Self-raising flour
Salt
Butter (cold, grated, to substitute for suet)
Water (to bring to a loose dough)

Optional / substitutions

Stock cube or gravy powder (beef gravy powder for extra flavor)
Caraway seeds (optional)
Herbs mixed into the dumpling dough for herby dumplings
Use self-raising flour + grated cold butter instead of suet for dumplings

Equipment and prep notes

Large frying / shallow pan with a lid (lid important for steaming dumplings)
Bowl for prepared vegetables and another for mixing dumpling dough
Grater (to grate cold butter)
Board and knife for chopping/slicing sausages
Fork to test potato doneness

Method — step-by-step

Prep the vegetables
- Peel and cube potatoes; dice onion; slice or cube carrot; chop cabbage; mash a little garlic.
- Place prepared veg together in a bowl.
Pre-cook and brown the sausages
- Put sausages in a thin pan with a little water and a bit of oil. Briefly boil so they swell/fill (helps prevent bursting).
- When the water mostly evaporates, fry in the oil until browned (about 5–6 minutes total), turning frequently.
- Remove, slice into chunks (Rick cut each into roughly four pieces) and set aside.
Build the stew
- In the pan, melt a little butter and sauté the diced onion until soft; add garlic to cook off rawness.
- Add carrot and potatoes, then cabbage.
- Add a splash of stock/broth and season with dried thyme, salt, pepper, sweet paprika and a dash of Worcestershire sauce.
- Stir in one heaped tablespoon tomato purée.
- Return the sliced sausages to the pan and stir through.
Simmer before adding dumplings
- Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for about 15–20 minutes until potatoes are “softish” but not falling apart.
- Note: the vegetables will release liquid, so you don’t need much extra stock.
Make the dumplings (while the stew simmers)
- Put self-raising flour in a bowl with a little salt.
- Grate cold butter into the flour to replicate suet; rub/distribute until breadcrumb-like.
- Add water and gently bring together to form a loose dough. Do not overwork — keep it loose to avoid heavy dumplings.
- Divide the dough into the desired number of dumplings and shape gently (do not squash).
Cook the dumplings
- Place dumplings on top of the simmering stew and cover with the lid.
- Cook for about 15 minutes without lifting the lid.
- After 15 minutes, check — dumplings should be cooked and light.

Serving

Serve straight from the pot as a family-style, comforting one-pot meal.
Dumplings sit on top of cabbage, sausage and veg. Rick describes them as “lightweight” and the stew as hearty and inexpensive.

Chef tips, technique cues & common mistakes

Briefly boil sausages before frying to prevent bursting and to maximize filling.
Grate cold butter into the flour to simulate suet for dumplings.
Don’t overwork dumpling dough — overworking makes them stodgy.
Don’t squash or compress dumplings when forming them; keep them loose.
Once dumplings are in, keep the lid on and do not lift for the ~15-minute cooking time.
Keep added liquid moderate — vegetables (especially cabbage and potatoes) will release liquid as they cook.

Variations

Add caraway seeds to the stew for extra flavor.
Make herby dumplings by mixing fresh or dried herbs into the dumpling dough.
Boost flavor with a stock cube or beef gravy powder.
Substitute suet with grated cold butter and self-raising flour for dumplings.

Measurements: the original source gives few exact quantities — the only specific amount stated is “one heaped tablespoon tomato purée.” Other ingredient amounts are qualitative; follow proportions to suit the size of your pot/family or to taste.