Best Romanian Sarmale Cabbage Rolls Recipes

ROMANIAN SARMALE (CABBAGE ROLLS)

Steps:

• 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.

VEGETARIAN SARMALE (ROMANIAN CABBAGE ROLLS)

Steps:

• Filling: Chop 4 of the onions and grate one of the carrots. Saute them for a couple of minutes with about 2 Tbsp oil. Add the rice and continue to saute them for 10 minutes add a little water, but only a small amount to keep it from sticking.
• Add the tomato paste, the walnuts, and the granulated gluten. Season it with salt, pepper, a dash of soy sauce, and other seasonings you may want. Heat for a minute or two and then turn off the stove and let cool down a little.
• Remove the hard core of the cabbage. Ceave the cabbage in a bowl/pot with hot water and salt for 5-10 minutes (until the leaves can be removed easily, but it shouldn not stay too long because the leaves will be easily broken).
• Drain the cabbage and wait for it to cool off until you can work with it. Remove the spine from each leaf (leaving two halves with each leaf about the size of your hand). From the cabbage around 20 medium leaves should result. Some leaves may rip, but don't use those to add filling to, instead set aside.
• Chop the remaining onion and carrot, and the extra cabbage leaves that had been set aside because they had torn. Saute them in a large pot with a little oil. Add the tomato sauce and mix well. Put 2-3 bay leaves over this mixture. Turn off the heat and set aside (this is not the filling, but where the cabbage rolls will later be placed).
• On every cabbage leaf place about 1 Tbsp of filling (the first mixture sauteed and put aside from direction steps 1 and 2) and roll. Roll by folding one of the width sides over the filling and then roll the length of it. One side should be still open, stuff that side inside with your finger to close. If there is too much filling to stuff the opened side inside then you can remove a little bit of the filling.
• In the large pot with the other sauteed vegetables lay down the cabbage rolls in a circle. Don't have them touching the sides of the pot. Put the heart of the cabbage or more chopped cabbage in the center of the pot with the cabbage rolls around it. The cabbage in the middle is there to keep the cabbage rolls in place while boiling. Once a circle has been made in the pot you can put more cabbage rolls on top of the last ones making another circle, etc.
• Boil enough water in another pot to cover the cabbage rolls. Add the lemon juice to the water if you want to add a little sour taste to them. Add the boiling water and lemon juice to the pot with the samales and make sure the samales are covered by the water. Place a large soup plate over them that covers them all and keeps them in place in the pot.
• Cook them on a low flame for 1 1/2 hours to 2 hours and add water if necessary.