Sweet Cabbage Strudel

No, really, you can make a sweet pastry using green cabbage! It’s not as overwhelmingly sweet as, say, birthday cake, but sweet enough to be served as part of a brunch spread, like a kugel or blintz dish, or even as an appetizer. 

Makes 6 servings.

½ cup raisins
12 tablespoons butter, divided
¼ cup sugar
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 granny smith apple, cored and shredded
6 cups Red Dog green cabbage, shredded
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup creme fraiche or sour cream
5 large sheets of phyllo dough
¼ cup bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 375. Soak raisins in hot water for 10 minutes to get them nice and plump. Drain water and let raisins cool.

Melt 4 tablespoons butter in a large pan. Stir in sugar and lemon juice and cook until sugar has dissolved. Add shredded apple, cabbage, and salt to pan. Stir well. Cook over medium heat, covered, for about 5 minutes. Remove cover and turn up heat, stirring, for an additional 5 minutes until most moisture is gone and cabbage has wilted down. Add raisins and sour cream/creme fraiche to cabbage. Remove from heat and let cool.

While cabbage is cooling, prepare the phyllo dough. Place parchment paper on a baking dish. Put one sheet of phyllo dough on parchment paper, brush with melted butter and sprinkle with bread crumbs. Repeat four more times, so you have a total of five sheets with a layer of butter and bread crumbs between each.

Scoop half the cabbage mixture into the center of the phyllo dough, staying about 1 inch from the short sides and 2 inches from the long sides of the dough.

Fold in the short ends. Fold one long end of the dough in. Use the parchment paper to roll the strudel until the filling is covered and the seam is on the bottom. Brush top layer with butter.

Bake for 25-30 minutes. Phyllo dough should be lightly browned and flaky. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.