Cabbage Rolls - Real Hungarian Style

Redox's Note:

I've eaten at Tony Packos in Toledo Ohio many times over the years and I can only wish that they'd use this recipe for their cabbage rolls. One year, after Christmas, my boss brought in some of these cabbage rolls leftovers from a family dinner and they were so fantastic that I kept bugging him until his wife very kindly wrote out the recipe for me. He is Hungarian and his wife is Polish so you can see that there is a lot of quality cooking in their genes. Everyone who has eaten these has begged for the recipe and if you make these I promise that you will love them and your friends will offer to detail your car to get the recipe. Ok, maybe that's a bit of hyperbole but these are so good that I've stopped looking for cabbage roll recipes. I freeze the leftovers in Seal-a-Meal bags and they keep for months (2 or 3 months is as long as I've been able to keep them before finishing them off). It's great being able to drop the bags in boiling water and having a meal as good as this in 30 minutes. This recipe is exactly as I got it and it comes out perfectly if you cut it in half, which is usually the way that I do it. (If I pack too many goodies in my freezer, I can't fit in my ice cream maker). The juice from this dish is terrific over mashed potatoes and the optional sausage really turns out great after simmering in the roasting pan.

• Total Time: 3 hrs
• Prep Time: 0 mins
• Cook Time: 3 hrs

Ingredients:

Servings: 30

• 2 heads cabbage

Filling

• 2 cups long grain rice , scalded
• 2 lbs lean ground beef
• 1 lb fresh lean pork sausage
• 2 small onions , minced
• 4 eggs , beaten
• 1 cup water
• 4 teaspoons salt
• 2 teaspoons fresh ground black pepper
• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 1 garlic clove , minced

Stewing Sauce

• 2 quarts sauerkraut
• 2 (28 ounce) cans canned tomatoes
• 4 cups tomato juice
• 1⁄8; cup dried onion flakes
• 8 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons salt
• ¼ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
• ¼ teaspoon paprika
• 1 lb bacon , cooked
• 2 lbs sausage , smoked

Directions:

1. Core cabbage, heat in salt water till leaves separate.
2. Remove each leaf and drain in colander.
3. FILLING--(2nd ingredient group):.
4. To scald rice: Heat a generous amount of water in a heavy pan that will hold the heat.
5. Make sure that the water will be more than enough to cover the rice.
6. Make sure the water is at a rolling boil, if rice is not scalded enough it will be crunchy!
7. Let stand for at least 5 minutes.
8. Rinse with cold water, draining with sieve, then mix into rest of filling ingredients.
9. Now fill the cabbage leaves with filling mixture; folding leaves.
10. While rolling pigs, start cooking the stewing sauce in another pot.
11. STEWING SAUCE--(3rd ingredient group):.
12. Mix group together, bring to a boil, then simmer 5 to 10 minutes.
13. TO ASSEMBLE:.
14. Line the roaster with: sauce, layer of pigs, more sauce, sprinkle with bacon crumbs, layer of pigs, layer of sauce, sprinkle with bacon crumbs etc.
15. Set oven at 350°F.
16. Cover roaster, and once all comes to a kind of a boil, reduce temperature to about 300°F so it doesn't boil over.
17. Cook about 2 more hours.
18. The smoked sausage is optional.
19. If using, mix it in among the other ingredients.
20. NOTE: 3/8 cup dehydrated onions may be used instead of 2 small onions in recipe.

Reviews

[KatSully33]

I made this for my boyfriend the other night and we loved it.... I served it with fresh white bread and mashed potatoes ..ummm ummm!!!

[Margaret Joy]

I basically made this recipe as directed except that I layered the cabbage rolls in a crockpot with sauce in between layers, and cooked on low for 8 hours. Delicious! I used the optional sausage and bacon .... mmm. I did reduce the salt a little bit and my mom still thought it was too salty - maybe the sauerkraut?? Anyway I didn't think it was too salty and I loved it! I brought it to a gathering where a lot of people thought it was good, and got seconds

[therockmiester]

I don't even have to make this recipe to try it. It is exactly the way my grandmother taught me when I was young., Yes, she was Hungarian,had a pig farm down in west virginia. Anyway, after surfing all the other recipes, I came across this one and it is my recipe... THESE ARE DELICIOUS! I am well know in the area for my cabbage rolls, I get allot of compliments every time I make them. OOH SOO GOOD. so, Try these THEY'RE WONDERFUL AND SO COMFORTING. the only thing that I do do differently is that I layer fresh bacon on my layers (i/2 cut strips) instead of crumbs... that way the bacon flavor gets down into the cabbage. I use uncle bens 5 minute rice, uncooked, and 3 eggs instead of 4, and garlic is a personal preference... you can actually by the can tomatoes with garlic... and I never used the smoked sausage, but they said that was optional... and instead of the sausage, I add a 1 lb of fresh ground veal.. that's grandmother's , and it makes a difference. Key: mix all your stewing sauce together first... that way its equal.. and I layer : sauce.. cabbage rolls, saurkraut, bacon, the repeat. top with bacon, then I take the left over cabbage and lay it ontop of everything, so that the oven doesn't does not burn anything... ENJOY!