Hungarian Stuffed Cabbage Rolls

Easy to make and fairly inexpensive.

• Ready In: 45 mins
• Serves: 8

Ingredients

• 2  tablespoons  freshly rendered lard or 2  tablespoons  oil
• 3  garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
• 1  medium yellow onion, finely chopped
• 1  cup  anaheim green peppers, seeded and finely chopped or 1  cup cubanelle pepper, chopped but not seeded
• 1⁄2 cup long-grain rice
• 2 1⁄2 cups  chicken stock
• 1  tablespoon Hungarian paprika
•  salt & freshly ground black pepper
• 1  head green cabbage
• 1 (24 ounce) jar sauerkraut, drained (about 3 cups)
• 1  lb ground pork
• 1  egg
• 1⁄2 lb  smoked pork butt, sliced

• Garnish

•  paprika  gravy (see recipe in this cookbook)

Directions

1. Saute the garlic, onion, and peppers in the lard until tender. Add the rice, 1 cup of the chicken stock, the paprika, and salt and pepper. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Set aside and allow to cool.
2. Core the cabbage and carefully pull the leaves off, keeping them as whole as possible. Blanch the leaves in a large pot of salted water until pliable, about 2 minutes; drain and allow to cool. This shold be done in a couple of batches. Cut out the tough white base of each leaf.
3. In a Dutch oven spread two cups of the drained sauerkraut in the bottom of the pot; set aside.
4. In a large bowl combine the ground pork with the cooled rice mixture, egg, salt, and pepper. Mix very well. Spread out a cabbage leaf on the countertop and roll up into a cylinder, folding in the sides as you roll. Continue with the rest of the leaves; it may be necessary to piece together a couple of leaves to make a nice roll.
5. Arrange the rolls on the bed of sauerkraut in the pot. Place the smoked pork slices on top of the rolls and spread the remaining 1 cup of sauerkraut over all. Pour in the remaining 1 1/2 cups of chicken stock; it should cover the cabbage rolls. If not, add more stock. Bring to a simmer and cook for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Serve paprika gravy on the side.