5.11.23

UKRAINIAN STYLE CABBAGE ROLLS

 
Back in the day at the Canada Day celebrations l would race over to the Ukrainian tent at Riverside Park and line up for a plate of cabbage roll with perogies and sausage. Years went by and some of the tents were replaced by newcomers. Sushi and Tim’s didn’t entice. OK, I liked the peaches at the Italian tent, but I didn’t particularly care for the pasta they served. I have eaten at the Colombo Hall so I am well aware what Italian pasta should taste like. But mostly I just missed the cabbage rolls. 

Thought it was time to try my hand at making it. Recognizing there are endless varieties and mostly vegetarian versions, I picked a video that seemed close to my own cabbage rolls. The stuffing had more meat than rice. I can’t claim authenticity, I had to simplify it... a lot. Still, the six cabbage rolls I made were surprisingly tasty and we enjoyed them on three consecutive nights with various accompaniments. 

At the end I found a lovely video of a Ukrainian lady preparing cabbage rolls with a dreamy quality to it. Enjoy it or make her recipe. She made a large pot of it. Mine makes only six.

Ukrainian Style Cabbage Rolls

8 leaves of white cabbage 
1/2 cup rice 

Vegetables:
2 Tbsp oil 
1 onion, chopped 
2 cloves of garlic, crushed 
2 Carrots, finely grated 
2 Tbsp quality preferably homemade tomato sauce 
3 sprigs of fresh parsley or 1 tsp dry
salt and pepper to taste 

200g lean ground pork 
2 Tbsp + 3/4 cup 14 % sour cream
1 1/2 cup homemade pork or vegetable stock 

Prepare ingredients: 
• First separate the cabbage leaves from a full head of white cabbage. 
• The instructions are HERE
• Once the leaves are separated, cook them in simmering water until they are soft enough to roll. 
• Trim off [don’t cut them off, just trim] thick parts of the stem for easy rolling. 
• Then set them aside to cool.
 
• Next cook the rice and set it aside to cool. 

Next prepare the vegetables: 
• Slow fry the onions in a large non stick skillet. 
• Add the garlic and the grated carrots and the parsley. 
• Stir in 2 Tbsp tomato sauce. 
• Slow cook stirring the vegetables on low medium heat for a few minutes. 
• Transfer the vegetables to a food processor and puree. 
• Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper to taste. 
• Divide the pureed vegetables. 

Make the stuffing next. 
• Add the ground pork, the cooked rice and half the pureed vegetables to a large mixing bowl. 
• Add 2 heaping Tbsp of sour cream, salt and pepper to taste and truly combine the mixture wearing food safe grade plastic gloves or with your clean hands. 
• Divide the stuffing six ways and wrap them inside 6 of the cabbage leaves burrito fashion.
• Set them aside. 

• Next add 2 Tbsp of oil to an ovenproof pot. 
• Take the remaining 2 cabbage leaves and lay them inside the pot. 
• Arrange the cabbage rolls on the top. 

Next make the sauce: 
• Add the remaining pureed vegetables in the skillet with the tomato sauce and the pork stock. 
• Bring to a slow simmer. 
• Stir in 3/4 cup sour cream and remove skillet from the heat. 
• Pour the sauce over the cabbage rolls. 
• Cover and place in a 300F oven for 3 to 4 hours. If making larger quantities, increase oven time. 
• Serve with buttered pasta. 
• Yields 6 cabbage rolls.

 

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It began with posting a few recipes on line for the family. "zsuzsa is in the kitchen" has more than 1000 Hungarian and International recipes. What started out as a private project turned into a well visited blog. The number of visitors long passed the two million mark. I organized the recipes into an on-line cookbook. On top of the page click on "ZSUZSA'S COOKBOOK". From there click on any of the chapters to access the recipes. For the archive just scroll to the bottom of the page. I am not profiting from my blog, so visitors are not harassed with advertising or flashy gadgets. The recipes are not broken up with photos at every step. Where needed the photos are placed following the recipe. Feel free to cut and paste my recipes for your own use. Publication is permitted as long as it is in your own words and with your own photographs. However, I would ask you for an acknowledgement and link-back to my blog. Happy cooking!