Swabian Schlachtplatte

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 3 tbsp lard
• 1 large onion(s)
• 1 kg sauerkraut (Filderkraut)
• 1 potato(s), peeled
• 1 apple, preferably a sweet variety
• 10 juniper berries
• 1 pinch of caraway seeds
• 4 slice(s) pork belly (belly lobes)
• 4 slice(s) lean roast beef
• 4 sausages (liver sausages), fresh
• 4 sausages (greaves, black pudding), fresh
• e.g. vegetable broth or meat broth, for pouring
• e.g. white wine, for pouring
• possibly pig’s feet and/or tails

Instructions

Working time approx. 20 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 1 hour 40 minutes; Total time approx. 2 hours

Autumnal, hearty specialty from the Ländle

Melt the lard in a large, wide pot and sauté the finely chopped onion until translucent. Tear the sauerkraut apart, add it to the pot and simmer briefly. Then add enough stock to just cover the cabbage. Grate in the potato and apple, add the juniper berries and caraway seeds. Stir everything together and simmer gently for about 45 minutes. Then add a little more white wine, add the belly loins and the beef, and cover and simmer gently for another 45 minutes. To top it off, you can also cook other parts of the pork (see ingredients) with the cabbage, which will further enhance the flavor of the cabbage. Finally, let the liver and crackling sausages simmer in the cabbage. The sausages should only be heated thoroughly in the cabbage; under no circumstances should they boil, or the skins will burst! Remove the meat and sausages and season the cabbage again if necessary. To serve, transfer the cabbage to a large bowl or casserole dish and arrange it around the meat and sausages. Traditionally, it’s served with mashed potatoes and mushy peas. Boiled potatoes, potato dumplings, or bread dumplings would also be possible, but then it’s no longer typically Swabian.