Romanian Sarmale (Cabbage Rolls)
- Ready In:
- 2hrs 45mins
- Ingredients:
- 17
- Serves:
-
4
ingredients
- 3 lbs heads of cabbage
- 1 1⁄2 lbs ground pork
- 4 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 4 medium onions, finely chopped
- 1 1⁄2 cups celery, finely chopped
- 1⁄2 lb bacon, finely diced
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1⁄2 tablespoon black pepper
- 1⁄2 tablespoon sweet paprika
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, finely chopped
- 1 cup rice
- 1 cup tomato sauce
- 1 cup tomato juice
- 1 quart sauerkraut (I prefer Polish in jar)
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 sprig fresh dill (optional)
- 1 smoked ham hock
directions
- Remove core from cabbage. In a large pot, bring to boil enough water to cover cabbage. Add 2 tablespoons salt and 1/4 cup vinegar to boiling water. Immerse cabbage in boiling water. Cover and cook over medium-high heat 5 to 7 minutes. With fork or tongs, gently remove leaves as they become tender. Drain well; let cool. Trim main leaf vein so it is flat like rest of cabbage leaf.
- In a large frying pan over medium heat, add oil, onions, celery, bacon, salt, pepper, paprika, parsley leaves and saute until light golden brown. Remove from heat and let cool for 1/2 hour.
- Add ground pork, rice and sauteed onions together along with 1/2 cup water, and mix well. This is the meat filling.
- Place 1 to 2 tablespoons of the meat filling in center of cabbage leaf. Fold right hand side of leaf over filling, then roll from base to bottom of leaf, then with index finger gently tuck left hand side of leaf into cabbage roll to make a nice neat roll. Squeeze juice out of sauerkraut and place 1/2 of jar on bottom of pot. Chop any leftover cabbage and place on top of sauerkraut. Place pork hock on top of sauerkraut. Arrange cabbage rolls, seam side down in pot in neat layers. Place them loosely touching each other and layer on top of one another. Sprinkle with salt between layers. Place second half of sauerkraut on top of cabbage rolls. Spread tomato sauce and tomato juice over kraut and place 1 bay leaf (and optional dill sprig) on top. Cover rolls with water just enough to cover rolls. Place heavy dish on top making sure there is a couple inches between plate on top of pot. Cover pot and bring to boiling and reduce heat to simmer and cook for about 2 hours.
- Serve with sour cream and mamaliga for a real romanian dish.
Questions & Replies
Reviews
-
This was delicious! I did use a large jar of pickled cabbage leaves, which saves a lot of time. I found them in a Russian market. My husband is Romanian and thought this was perfect. I will definitely use this recipe again! I got rave reviews. I think the smoked ham hock really added some great flavor. Thanks for posting!
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Love this stuff! I use this as a base recipe. The only thing I change is omitting the celery and using 1/2 ground beef and 1/2 ground pork in place of all ground pork. Pretty much use the recipe as is other than that. I remember when I was a kid, my family met a Romanian couple in Hollywood Beach FL. (1972?) They invited us for Sunday dinner and Anna made this for us. It was fantastic! I was only 8 and should have hated everything in this! I ate like 6 of these rolls. My mom got the recipe and made it for us occasionally. She passed away and I could not find the recipe she used. This is so close and brings back some awesome memories of my childhood. Thank you!
RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
I am of Romanian Heritage, widowed, living with my daughter. I am very involved in my church and enjoy cooking dinners for church. I enjoy cooking, baking, crocheting and home decorating. I collect cookbooks (especially church and club ones). I have put together 3 cookbooks as fund raisers for church and for a crippled girl in Romania. I am retired but do medical billing from my home.