Sarmale
Traditional Romanian Cabbage Rolls (Sarmale) are always
part of our Christmas dinner!
Sour cabbage leaves stuffed with a mix of pork/beef/veal
ground meat, slow cooked in tomato sauce with some smoked
bacon and fresh thyme.
Course: Main
Cuisine: Romanian
Servings: 25 -30 pieces
Ingredients
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2 lbs/ 1 kg combined ground pork/ beef
½ cup rice
1 large onion chopped
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon dried basil
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large sour cabbage
700 ml tomato juice
10 slices smoked bacon
some fresh thyme sprigs
3-4 bay leaves
salt and pepper
Instructions
1. Get ready the meat stuffing.
2. Boil rice till it's almost ready. Set aside to cool.
3. Meanwhile chop the large onion.
4.
Sauté half of the quantity for a couple of minutes, saving the other
half for later and set aside.
5. In a large bowl mix all types of ground meat, add sauted onions and
boiled rice, dried herbs, 1 teaspoon of water, salt and pepper and mix
well using your hands.
6. Making the rolls.
7. Remove gently not to break them, all cabbage leaves. You will only need
the large leaves to make the rolls. The middle part will be chopped and
added between cabbage rolls layers. Cut each large leaf in half,
removing the tough core part , to make it easier to roll them.
8. Add a tablespoon of ground meat mixture to each half leaf. Cover the
filling with the edge from the base of the leaf. Bend edges on both
sides and cover over the filling. Roll the stuffed cabbage leaf holding
firm, so they won't break during cooking time.
Repeat these steps until you finish all of your group meat mixture.
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