INGREDIENTS FOR SARMALE IN CABBAGE LEAF

For 4 people

Preparation time around 2 hours

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-1 kg of minced pork meat (or mixture of half pork, half veal), or lamb (especially for Easter but in this case we make them with vine leaves)

-150 g of round rice

-300 g of onions

-50 ml of tomato puree -100 gr of smoked bacon, or pieces of smoked meat -2 kg of cabbage, i.e. a large whole marinated cabbage in brine, (about 3 jars of RAURENI cabbage leaves 1350gr, or 2 jars of RAURENI grape leaves)

-1 bunch of parsley or dill (I prefer dill by separating only the thin and small branches).

– salt and pepper.

– water or chicken or beef broth (about 400 ml, or more, the sarmale must be immersed in the liquid). This liquid that we will mix with the tomato sauce. But be careful with the salt, because the cubed broth is often very salty.

– a cast iron pot if possible, with its lid.

PREPARATION:

Wash and drain the rice.

Slice the onions and brown them in a sauté pan with a little oil. When the onion begins to turn yellow, add the rice. Cook the rice a little with the onion and after a few minutes add about 100 ml of water. In a bowl, combine the meat, raw rice with onion, half the tomato sauce, ground pepper, salt and parsley, or if you prefer, dill (the very small branches chopped). And if it is necessary, another 2-3 tablespoons of oil. The composition should not be dry. Mix well.

Blanch the cabbage (or vine) leaves. If you have cabbage pickled in brine, it is left in cold water for a few hours to desalt them before starting the preparation. Choose the thinnest cabbage leaves. Cut the cabbage leaves into squares of about 10-13 cm, leaving the center rib aside. Put a teaspoon or two of the stuffing in the center, fold the edges on one side over the meat, roll and fold the other edge to give the elongated shape, while tightening.

After having finished rolling the sarmale, take the cabbage leaves that are not usable, the rib also, cut them into strips, to form a layer at the bottom of the dish, sprinkle with smoked bacon, then place the sarmale on top one by one. side to side to form a single row and cover the surface of the bottom of the casserole dish. This will be a first layer. Cover the sarmale with another layer of cabbage cut into strips. Sprinkle some bacon on top and after, put the second layer of sarmale. And like that until the end. The baking dish must be full, while remembering that you will cover the sarmale with the cooking juice and that it should not overflow during cooking.

Prepare the cooking juice with 1-2 cubes of diluted broth, and mix with the tomato coulis, pour this liquid over the entire contents of the pot. Three quarters of the sarmales must be in liquid. At the end, cover the sarmale with whole cabbage leaves or, if you don’t have any leftover cabbage, and put the lid on the pot. Boil for 1 hour over medium heat and then put it in the oven (preheated to 180 °) for about 2 hours or even 2 and a half hours, until the liquid drops by more than half.

We are going to serve them hot with a little crème fraîche on top and some polenta.

Enjoy your meal or “Pofta Buna” !!

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Tips to take into account –

Desalt the cabbage in water – Prepare the day before for the next day – Use risotto rice to make the stuffing Add an egg yolk to the stuffing –

Oups! Don’t forget to take also  …