Spinach with Pine Nuts, Goats Cheese, Raisins, Caramelised Apple & Honey – Cooking without Chemicals with Tom Hunt

October 13, 2026October 13, 2026 by Tom Hunt

Serves 4 as a side

Sautéed spinach with raisins and pine nuts is a classic Catalan recipe. It’s wonderful, so sweet, nutty and nutritious. We’ve given ours an Irish twist with caramelised Irish apples and an optional gooey topping of our creamy goats cheese.

Tom Hunt is an award-winning chef, food educator, writer, climate change activist and author of Eating for Pleasure, People & Planet. https://www.tomsfeast.com

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons raisins

• 2 tablespoons dry sherry or warm water, for soaking the raisins

• 2 tablespoons pine nuts

• 3 tablespoons olive oil

• 1 small firm apple, peeled, cored, cut into small cubes

• 1 teaspoon sugar

• 3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

• 1 pound baby spinach, washed

• Salt and black pepper, to taste

• 1 teaspoon sherry vinegar

• 2 to 3 tablespoons crumbled goat cheese

• Honey, for drizzling

Method

1. Soak the raisins in the warm sherry or water for about 15 minutes, until plump, then drain.

2. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the pine nuts and apple cubes together, sprinkle with the sugar, and cook 2 to 3 minutes, tossing often, until the pine nuts are golden and the apple is lightly caramelized at the edges. Add the garlic and cook another 30 seconds until fragrant.

3. Add the spinach in batches, tossing as it wilts down, about 2 to 3 minutes total.

4. Stir in the drained raisins, season with salt and pepper, and finish with the sherry vinegar.

5. Transfer to a serving dish, scatter the goat cheese over the top, and drizzle with honey. Serve immediately.

Notes

Adapted from José Andrés’s Spinach with Raisins, Pine Nuts and Apples (Tapas: A Taste of Spain in America). The apples are seared separately with a little sugar so they caramelise properly

Upside-down Romanesco Tart – Cooking Without Chemicals with Tom Hunt, Season 2

September 29, 2026September 29, 2026 by Tom Hunt

This upside-down tart honours the majestic Romanesco by transforming it into a showstopping centrepiece. Using the whole vegetable, leaves included, celebrates its nutty, caramelised flavour while reducing waste. The topping swaps in a brighter combination of cream cheese, toasted pine nuts, plump currants, chilli flakes and lemon zest, adding creamy, sweet-tart and citrusy layers that play off the naturally sweet Romanesco.

Tom Hunt is an award-winning chef, food educator, writer, climate change activist and author of Eating for Pleasure, People & Planet. https://www.tomsfeast.com

Ingredients

2–3 tbsp olive oil
2–3 tbsp honey or sugar (or maple syrup)
1 large Romanesco (or cauliflower), leaves included
4–6 tbsp cream cheese (plus extra for serving)
2–3 tbsp currants
2–3 tbsp pine nuts
Pinch of chilli flakes
Zest of 1 lemon, plus a squeeze of juice
30–40g pecorino Romano, finely grated
500g ready-rolled puff pastry
Sea salt and black pepper

Method

Preheat the oven to 190°C (fan) and line a large baking tray with parchment paper.
Halve the Romanesco and cut two or three thick “steaks,” about 2–3cm thick, leaving some leaves attached for extra flavour and visual impact.
Lay the steaks on the tray and lightly trace around them to mark their outlines. Remove the Romanesco and drizzle olive oil and honey (or your chosen sweetener) inside the traced areas. Season with salt and pepper, then scatter the currants, pine nuts and a pinch of chilli flakes.
Place the Romanesco steaks back within their outlines and spread each with a generous spoonful of cream cheese. Sprinkle over the grated pecorino Romano and the lemon zest.
Unroll the puff pastry and cut pieces that extend about 4cm beyond each Romanesco steak. Drape the pastry over the top, pressing gently around the edges. Brush lightly with a little extra cream cheese.
Set the tray over a medium-low hob for 3–5 minutes, moving occasionally to allow the base to caramelise gently. Once the honey begins to bubble, transfer the tray to the oven and bake for 25 minutes, until the pastry is puffed and golden.
Rest for five minutes, then carefully flip the tart onto a board to reveal the caramelised Romanesco. Finish with a squeeze of lemon juice and serve warm with an extra spoonful of cream cheese.

Smashed Cucumber Salad – Cooking without Chemicals with Tom Hunt, Season 2

September 14, 2026September 24, 2026 by Tom Hunt

This salad is a super tasty way to transform a tired nub of cucumber into a quick and easy lip-smacking salad to enjoy as a refreshing snack or as part of a larger meal. This recipe originates from China but pairs well with many different meals.

Tom Hunt is an award-winning chef, food educator, writer, climate change activist and author of Eating for Pleasure, People & Planet. https://www.tomsfeast.com

This salad is a super tasty way to transform a tired nub of cucumber into a quick and easy lip-smacking salad to enjoy as a refreshing snack or as part of a larger meal.

Ingredients

• 150g cucumber

• Pinch sea salt

• Pinch sugar

• Pinch chilli flakes

• 1 tsp rice vinegar (white wine or cider vinegar)

• 1 clove garlic

• 1 tsp sesame oil or olive oil

• 1 tsp soya sauce

• Sprinkle sesame seeds, to taste, optional

• Sprig coriander, optional

Method

1. Take an end of cucumber (about 150g) and place it on a chopping board. Using a rolling pin or side or a large flat knife, carefully, smack the cucumber until it breaks open and is partially and evenly crushed. Chop into rough shapes and transfer to a colander. Place over a bowl and sprinkle with a generous pinch of sea salt. Toss together and place in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to crisp up.

2. Meanwhile, make the dressing by mixing together a pinch of sea salt, sugar and optional red chilli flakes with a teaspoon of rice, white wine or cider vinegar and one smashed clove of garlic. Add a teaspoon of sesame oil or olive oil and soya sauce and mix together.

3. When you are ready to serve, take your cucumbers from the fridge and toss with the dressing. Keep the juice to drink or add to the dressing if it is a small amount. Serve topped with an optional sprinkling of sesame seeds and sprig of coriander.

Cooking without Chemicals with Tom Hunt – Blackened Leeks with Romesco Sauce

March 17, 2026March 26, 2026 by Tom Hunt

This smoky Catalan-style dish is all about the contrast of charred, sweet alliums and nutty, tangy romesco. Traditionally served with calçots, the sauce works beautifully with blackened leeks too – or with almost any grilled vegetable or fish. It’s so moreish you’ll want to spread it on toast.

Tom Hunt is an award-winning chef, food educator, writer, climate change activist and author. This recipe was first published in his book Eating for Pleasure, People & Planet. https://www.tomsfeast.com

Ingredients – serves 4

4–6 leeks (about 1 large or 2 small per person), trimmed

Light olive oil

Sea salt and black pepper

Romesco sauce

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 red chilli, chopped and deseeded

50g almonds or other nuts

50g stale or dry bread, torn

1 shallot or ½ an onion, finely diced

1 tbsp smoked paprika

350g roasted red peppers (from a jar or freshly roasted)

1 tbsp sherry or red wine vinegar

100ml olive oil

Method

To cook the leeks, preheat a barbecue or grill to high. Rub the leeks lightly with olive oil and season.

Place them directly over the coals or under the grill, turning occasionally, until the outer layers are blackened and the insides are soft – about 10–15 minutes depending on their size. If cooking directly on the coals, brush off any ash before serving.

You can also roast them in a hot oven at 220C until tender and charred at the tips. Meanwhile, make the romesco sauce.

Warm a splash of olive oil in a frying pan and fry the. bread and almonds for a few minutes until golden. Add the garlic, chilli and onion and cook for another couple of minutes until fragrant, then stir in the smoked paprika.

Transfer the mixture to a blender with the roasted peppers and vinegar, then blend to a coarse paste. With the motor running, drizzle in the olive oil until you have a thick, spoonable sauce. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serve the hot blackened leeks piled on a platter with the romesco spooned generously over the top or served alongside.

Storage

The sauce will keep well in the fridge for up to a week, or longer if pasteurised in the jar.

Fresh Tomato Pasta

July 21, 2025July 17, 2025 by Nessa Robins

I guarantee this will be the quickest dinner you will make this week and once you use local tomatoes it will be the most delicious too. It is now Irish tomato season and there are many ways to enjoy tomatoes at their best. Simply sliced with a sprinkling of salt has always been a favourite, but fresh in-season tomatoes are fantastic when lightly cooked and have the ability to instantly elevate a simple pasta dish.

Most fruit and vegetables are more nutritionally beneficial to us in their raw form. However, research has revealed that cooking tomatoes not only increases the level of lycopene, which is a powerful antioxidant in the tomatoes, but it also makes it easier for the body to absorb.

This delicious dish takes minutes to prepare and is packed with nutrients.

Enjoy!

Nessa x

Fresh Tomato Pasta

Ingredients

Serves 3

750g cherry tomatoes, cut into quarters
Handful fresh basil, ripped into pieces
1tbsp olive oil
½ tsp sugar
¼ tsp chilli flakes
Sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
275g dried spaghetti
25g butter

To serve

Grating of cheese, such as parmesan, grand padano, or a dairy-free alternative
Basil leaves
Black pepper
Garlic bread, optional

Method

To a large bowl, add the chopped tomatoes, basil, olive oil, sugar, chilli flakes, and a little salt and pepper. Stir well to combine. Cover and leave for about 2 hours to allow the flavours to mingle together.
Cook the spaghetti according to the pack’s instructions, in a large saucepan of salted boiling water.
Add the butter to a large frying pan, over a high heat. Once melted pour in the marinaded tomatoes. Stirring all the time, cook for about ten minutes, until the tomatoes are cooked and have become sticky.
Drain the spaghetti, saving about 4 tablespoons of the cooking water. Add the water to the pan. Stir well to combine. Allow to bubble for about a minute before adding the spaghetti. Stir well to completely coat the spaghetti in the sauce.
Serve immediately with a good grating of cheese, a few basil leaves and some freshly grated black pepper.

Every Year it Happens

January 28, 2022 by Kenneth Keavey

Every year it happens, we are waiting and waiting and then bang out of the blue it all starts again. I guess life is like that sometimes, we push and we shove and want to change things, and then when we finally just accept the ways things are (often because what we were doing was making no difference anyway) and least expect it things fall into place.

So it was this morning with my first farm walk in two weeks. We have been struggling with the dark closed in feeling of winter, and then this morning bright sunshine, singing birds, and life were evident all around.

The crops need to have our focus again, they are flying. We have the best kale harvest in years, our leeks are amazing as is the purple sprouting broccoli.

We are out in the fields everyday but today we start in earnest after we have finally shrugged off winters cloak.

Nature is very subtle, we are always on the watch for change, and somehow just suddenly it changes without you noticing. Like a seed germinating, one day it is a seed and the next it is a plant is has germinated, just like that, this is the miracle and power of nature. It is the same with the kale regrowing, it just happens when the time is right. Or the birds singing a spring morning chorus they just begin, and wow were they out in force this morning.

I get excited at this time of the year, the start of a new growing season and the challenges and opportunities it brings fill me with hope for the year.

It is a natural cycle and as we emerge from the dark winter months there is a sense at least on the farm of a new slate, a fresh start, a chance to begin the journey anew.

Nature is wonderful like that, and up until this period in man’s history it has been stable and consistent. I read this morning that the Gulf Stream which here in Northern Europe we rely on for our stable weather patterns is not in good shape.

These complex global climate regulation mechanisms are hard to understand I would imagine, but there are clear signs that climate stability all over our one and only beautiful home is being compromised.

I do admit to getting frustrated with the slow pace of change, it doesn’t make sense to me. There is a phenomenal opportunity now to take the risk and invest in Green Energy, to cut consumption and do so much more. We as a small farm have done it, and we as a small country can do it.

But maybe it is like the kale regrowing or the seed germinating, you can’t force the seed to grow faster or the kale to appear faster, but all of a sudden without even noticing it has changed.

Maybe that is happening now too with movement to cut consumption, power our lives with green energy, moving to more plant-based diets, all these things are happening.

The most amazing thing is you are causing this change by supporting us.

Thank you.

Kenneth

Creamy Celeriac Crumble

January 10, 2022 by Liz Child

This savoury crumble is full of comforting winter vegetables and white beans. The creamy white sauce is made from seasoned oat milk thickened with a little cornflour. The oaty crumble is delicious and buttery (thanks to our new Naturli butter) and spiked with fragrant rosemary (use any winter herbs you like eg thyme or sage). Serve with a simple salad of shaved Brussels sprouts dressed with lemon and good oil. The not-so-secret ingredient which brings the dish together? Nutritional yeast! Fondly referred to as nooch, it brings a moreish, cheesy flavour to the party. What will you put in your savoury crumble?

As it’s gluten free day this week I’ve used certified gluten free oats in the crumble and gluten free Rude Health oat milk in the white sauce. If gluten isn’t an issue for you then of course you don’t need to worry about that, but if you are avoiding gluten then we can help with a range of gluten free groceries, conveniently delivered to your door.

Liz x

Ingredients (serves 6)

1/2 a celeriac, peeled and cubed
1 large leek, washed and chopped
300g mushrooms, halved or quartered
3 tbsp olive oil
salt & pepper to taste
2 tins of white beans, drained

White Sauce

2 tbsp cornflour (or flour of your choice)
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
a handful of nutritional yeast
salt and pepper to taste (about 1/2 tsp of each)
500ml gluten free oat milk (or any milk you like)

Crumble

250g gluten free porridge oats (or regular oats)
2 sprigs of fresh rosemary, stripped from stalk (or any winter herbs you like)
salt and pepper to taste – a generous pinch of each
a handful of nutritional yeast
100g butter (we use Naturli vegan blocks)

Method

Preheat your oven to 200C. Find a baking dish and tumble in your chopped celeriac, leek and mushrooms.
Season with salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil. Mix well then put the dish in the oven to roast the vegetables while you prepare the white sauce and crumble. Remove the dish every 10 minutes to stir.
In a mixing jug, whisk the cornflour, nutritional yeast, nutmeg, Dijon mustard, salt, pepper and a splash of the oat milk into a paste. Then add the rest of the oat milk and whisk into a thin sauce. This will cook and thicken up later in the oven. Put to one side for now.
Make the crumble in a food processor with the blade attachment. Put the oats, rosemary, nooch, salt and pepper into the processor and blend into a rough flour. Chop the butter into cubes, add to the flour mixture and pulse into a crumbly texture.
When the vegetables are cooked through (this should take around 30 minutes) add the drained white beans and sauce. Stir well then top with the crumble and return to the oven for another 20 minutes or until bubbling and golden on top.
Serve with some seasonal greens. We like thinly sliced Brussels sprouts simply dressed with good olive oil and a squeeze of fresh lemon juice for some acidity and freshness to cut through the creamy crumble.

Autumn Gnocchi

September 21, 2021January 5, 2022 by Liz Child

Gnocchi are easy to make but they do require a bit of time and a fair few steps. So save this recipe for when you have the time to really take your time and enjoy the process. These colourful autumn gnocchi are made with an exciting new harvest on the farm, uchi kuri squash, and our beautiful beetroot.

Serve simply sautéd with butter, garlic, herbs and kale, or make a rich tomato pasta sauce to pop them on. Here’s a 30 second video to show you the process, otherwise, read on below. Liz x

Ingredients (serves approx 8)

a small winter squash like our uchi kuri (or sub with a butternut squash)
8 small beetroots, or 4 large
salt & pepper to taste
4 tbsp olive oil
plain flour (or a gluten free plain flour blend) – amounts vary, see method below
6 cloves of garlic
6 sprigs of rosemary (or sage?)
enough butter (or more olive oil) to sauté
8 leaves of kale (sub with beetroot leaves if you have any fresh)
a few handfuls of hazelnuts (we sell compostable bags of organic hazelnuts here)

Method

Preheat your oven to 200C and get two baking dishes ready.
Chop your squash in half and scoop out the seeds. Chop the squash into chunks and put it into one roasting dish. Scrub the beetroots and chop them into chunks too. Put them into the other dish. No need to peel either of these lovely, organic vegetables.
Season both dishes with salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil. Then get them into the oven to roast until soft. This usually takes around 20-30 minutes, just keep an eye on them.
Allow the roasted veg to cool a little, then blend the squash into a purée. Taste and slightly over-season with salt. It needs to be a little too salty as you will be adding a fair bit of flour next.
Add 4 large serving spoons of plain flour to the food processor and gently pulse the mixture together. Be very careful not to over-mix as this can make the dough tough. I do this in a large food processor with the ‘S’ blade attachment, but you can use a stick blender to purée then just fold in the flour in a large bowl. Add more flour as needed (amounts vary as different vegetables have different water content) until you achieve a soft dough.
Scoop the dough into a bowl, then repeat the process with the beetroot. You will probably find that the beetroot dough needs less flour.
Cut the dough into manageable portions. Generously flour a clean work surface and roll the dough into thick snakes. Cut the snakes into bite size pieces.
Gently roll each bite over a ridged gnocchi board or the back of a fork. Place the gnocchi onto large, floured plates or trays.
Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil. Then drop the squash gnocchi in, in small batches. Boil briefly, just until they start to rise to the surface, then scoop them out with a slotted spoon and place in a tray, ready to sauté. Repeat this process until all the squash gnocchi are boiled, then do the same with the beetroot. Do the beetroot AFTER the squash so that the squash gnocchi don’t get stained pink.
At this point you can space out any gnocchi you won’t be needing right away on a tray and freeze. When they are frozen solid they can be tipped into a box in the freezer to use another day.
Gnocchi can be sautéed, roasted, boiled, baked in a sauce… I think they are best sautéed in butter or olive oil and winter herbs. Get a large frying pan on the hob with a very generous knob of butter, tumble in as many gnocchi as you like and sauté until hot and starting to take on some colour.
Add torn kale leaves, sliced garlic, rosemary and chopped hazelnuts to the pan and cook until the kale has wilted and the nuts are toasty. Season as needed and serve.

Seasonal Eating

September 17, 2021 by Kenneth Keavey

A while back somebody asked me, jokingly (at least I hope it was a joke, looking back now maybe it wasn’t, in which case I led them astray by my answer) ‘What corner of the farm did we grow pineapples and bananas in?’ My answer: ‘The far corner!’

Eating seasonal, eating Irish, eating local, all admirable aspirations and absolutely possible-ish. ‘Ish’ because it can be tough, and it can require a great deal of thought and understanding and commitment if you want to stick to these ideals all year round and not end up eating turnip at every meal from Nov-March!

Eating seasonally is much easier at certain times of the years than others and this is the best time to start. This year is turning out to be one of the best years ever for harvest. However it is not all good news and while we have always been committed to sourcing local and organic where possible. Sometimes it is difficult to meet everybody’s expectations.

I have just come off the phone with Richard Galvin our regular IRISH, seasonal apple grower and he has just told me the news that much of his crop was devastated with a late frost back in June and he will have few if any organic apples for us.

There is nothing we can do about this, similarly in a few weeks the IRISH organic tomato season will finish, and we will then rely on imported organic tomatoes. While growing tomatoes out of season is possible it is energy intensive.

That being said, eating seasonal food can be remarkably rewarding. The harvest on our farm is now moving towards the more earthy IRISH crops that thrive in our climate and tucked in there are some real seasonal stars. It is maybe the taste of the first freshly harvested carrot, or the start of the purple sprouting broccoli season that really make me appreciate the ebb and flow of the seasons and its effect on our local food supply.

Following a strictly seasonal diet can be nearly impossible,but maybe using the old 80/20 rule might be a good idea here? Eating what is in season 80% of the time and eating what you want the other 20%.

But does taking a seasonal approach to food matter? Yes, it matters a lot, it matters for our planet and for our health. Seasonal organic food is usually fresher and therefore contains more nutrients, has been grown sustainably and has a smaller carbon footprint.

Even so, accepting that somethings just don’t grow in our country and some things only grow well in our country at certain times of the year is part of understanding our food landscape. We grow what we can here on our farm, but we still need to source bananas from the other side of the world.

Where we need to import, we will always make sure our produce is organic, Fairtrade where possible and never airfreighted.

We have never had such a large range of local IRISH organic produce both from our own farm and from a host of other small organic farms across Ireland. Without any doubt right now is the perfect time to give seasonal eating a go.

I am also looking for to the start of the proper Italian Clementine and Lemon season, and my favourite is the blood orange season later in the year.

As always thanks for your support.

Kenneth

Get a box of locally grown veg (with some more exotic fruit thrown in for variety) **here**.

Pointed Cabbage & Fennel Sauerkraut

September 10, 2021January 5, 2022 by Liz Child

It’s that time of year when we have cabbages coming out of our ears. Sauerkraut is a really simple and safe way to not only preserve, but to also enhance the nutritional value of these humble vegetables. It just so happens that we have a bumper crop of fennel too so we’ve been making my favourite fennel and cabbage kraut on repeat, and you can too! All you need is a big glass jar, a smaller jar or glass that fits inside it, salt, cabbage and fennel.

Don’t be intimidated by the science behind fermentation. It can feel a little counter-intuitive to encourage microbes to thrive and multiply, but microbes are an essential part of us and part of a healthy world. We would not be here without them, and we certainly wouldn’t be able to grow our organic vegetables without them making our soil healthy and teaming with life. Eating fermented vegetables like this sauerkraut is scientifically proven to boost your gut health, which has a positive knock on effect to your overall health and wellbeing.

Sauerkraut is very simple. Just mix shredded cabbage (and fennel too in this recipe) with enough salt to make it pleasantly salty, pack it tightly into a clean jar and weigh it down so that the vegetables stay safely submerged in brine. Allow fermentation to happen at room temperature for about a week, then remove the weight and pop your jar of tangy, pickley goodness into the fridge to have as a side or sandwich filler to many meals over the coming months.

Liz x

Ingredients

1 pointed cabbage
2 fennel bulbs
2 tbsp sea salt (or more to taste) Achill Island Sea Salt is perfect for this

Method

Find some large jars and give them a really good clean and a hot rinse. You can sterilise if you like but it is not strictly necessary.
Give your vegetables a rinse to remove any dirt. Carefully peel off and reserve a couple of outer leaves of your cabbage.
Finely shred your remaining cabbage and the fennel bulbs using a sharp knife, a mandolin or a food processor. Place the shredded vegetables into a large, clean mixing bowl.
Sprinkle over the salt then use your hands to tumble the salt through the shredded vegetables. Once it is evenly dispersed, start squeezing and massaging the salt with the shredded vegetables.
You will soon notice that the salt is drawing liquid out of the vegetables and the vegetables are decreasing in volume. Taste a spoon of the mixture and decide if you would like to add more salt or not. It should just taste pleasantly salty.
The mixture is ready to pack into the jar when it is very wet. You can test this by picking up a large handful and squeezing. There should be loads of lovely brine dripping from your hands into the bowl.
Pack the mixture very firmly into the jar. It’s best to do this a couple of handfuls at a time so that you can push down each layer nice and tight. You want to ensure that no air pockets are in the jar. Use your fist if it fits in the jar, otherwise a clean rolling pin is perfect for poking and packing down the mixture.
Keep going until you have used all the mixture or until you have at least an inch of headroom left in the jar. You don’t want to overfill it! But do include the brine that the salt has drawn from the vegetables. The more brine the better!
Now grab those outer leaves you reserved earlier. Break them to size, they should be just bigger than the surface area of the packed cabbage and fennel mixture. Tuck a leaf carefully into a jar and push it neatly over the shredded veg mixture but under the brine. The aim is to prevent any little bits of shredded veg from floating up to the surface of the brine and catching mould. The brine should rise above the cabbage leaf and all the shredded bits should be safely tucked underneath it. You may be able to push the edges of the cabbage leaf down against the sides of the jar to really tuck the mixture in. Try use a spoon or your fingers.
Pick off any floating bits of shredded vegetables and clean up your jar with a piece of kitchen paper or a clean tea towel. Then add a weight to weigh down the cabbage leaf which will keep everything safely submerged in brine. You can use anything that will be food safe and not be affected by the salt. So a smaller glass jar filled with water is good – just ensure the metal side does not touch the salty brine or it can corrode. Another good option is to use a small water glass or glass ramekin. If it fits right, putting the lid on the jar should pin the glass down and keep everything submerged.
Put the lid on the jar. If you are using a clip-top jar, remove the rubber seal first, this will allow gases to escape during fermentation and there will be non need to ‘burp’ your jars. If you are using a screw top jar you will need to ‘burp’ your jar twice a day by carefully loosening then tightening the lid. You should hear the gases escape and see bubbles rising to the top of the ferment.
Keep the jar on a plate or tray to catch any spills, at room temperature for 1 week. Not in direct sunlight. It’s best to ‘burp’ over the sink in case you have a very active ferment. It should be very active and bubbly between days 2 and 4/5 then it will calm down. If the action of the bubbles causes your ferment to rise above the brine, just use a clean hand or utensil to push everything back down under brine and carry on.
After a week your sauerkraut should be tangy and delicious. Remove the weight and the cabbage leaf. Replace the rubber seal if using a clip top jar, put the lid back on and place the jar in the fridge.
Your sauerkraut should stay fresh in the fridge for at least 3 months but often up to 1 year! To make it last well, do not double dip and move into smaller, clean jars as you work your way down the big jar. This means less air in the jar and less chance of it drying out and getting susceptible to mould.