October 28, 2011
In honor of the bounty of autumn's harvest—and the many vegetables available to you—perhaps you'll be inspired by the cuisine of Eastern Europe this season. Mircea Poeana, Program Director on our Eastern Europe to the Black Sea River CruiseTour, recently shared a recipe with us for sarmale (stuffed cabbage rolls), a tasty treat that ties together those last summertime vegetables and hearty meats into a nice, tidy package.
Sarmale
The name of this dish can be traced back to Turkey, where it directly translates to “a wrapped thing” in Turkish—wordplay stemming from the word sarmak, a verb for “wrap” or “roll.” These stuffed cabbage rolls feature carrots, peppers, tomatoes, onions, and mushrooms—so you’ll be sure to get your vegetable servings with this dish—but also include chopped bacon and ground beef to provide a rich, meaty flavor.
Ingredients:
2 Tbs. olive oil
½ lb. bacon, chopped
3 medium-sized onions, chopped
4 medium-sized tomatoes, chopped
1 ½ red peppers, chopped
¾ cup carrots, shredded
4 Tbs. Vegeta (Can be found in Eastern European grocery stores—or substituted with vegetable stock powder)
½ tsp. ground pepper
2 tsp. sweet paprika
2 Tbs. dill
3 Tbs. tomato paste
3 cups mushrooms, chopped
3 Tbs. dried parsley
½ cup water
3 cups round rice
4 ½ lbs. ground beef
1 Tbs. salt
1 Tbs. vinegar
2 heads of cabbage
¼ cup fresh parsley
Herbs of your choice, to taste
Sour cream, as needed
Preparation—Filling:
- Heat oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add chopped bacon and let brown. Then add onions, tomatoes, and peppers to pan.
- Add shredded carrot, Vegeta, pepper, paprika, dill, tomato paste, and chopped mushroom.
- Mix dried parsley with water to form a paste, then add to pan, mixing well.
- Add rice and let mixture simmer for 10 minutes, and then remove from heat.
- In a separate skillet, brown the ground beef.
- Add the beef to the rice mixture until evenly incorporated.
Preparation—Cabbage:
- Fill a deep pot ¾ full with water. Add salt and vinegar. Place over high heat.
- Cut out hearts of cabbage, then dunk cabbage into pot.
- With a fork, separate leaves of cabbage, one by one.
- Blanch for two minutes, then place cabbage in a separate bowl.
- Cut off the thicker stem area at the bottom of each cabbage leaf.
Assembly:
- Place 1 tablespoon of stuffing on cabbage leaf.
- Roll leaf tightly (like a cigar), tucking in ends.
- Continue to stuff and roll leaves until all stuffing has been used.
- Place unused cabbage leaves at bottom of pot, along with parsley and spices (to prevent burning). Place sarmale on top of leaf bed.
- Add water until sarmale are covered, cover pot with lid, and cook over low heat for 1 hour, or until half the water has evaporated.
- Garnish with sour cream.
Servings: Serves 6.
To enjoy the flavors of Eastern Europe for yourself, join our Eastern Europe to the Black Sea River CruiseTour.