COPPER🇲🇩 Moldova
Sarmale recipe
Savory cabbage rolls stuffed with meat and rice.
Ingredients
- 1 cabbage
- 500 g ground pork
- 100 g rice
- 1 onion
- 200 g tomato paste
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 1 tbsp dill
- 500 ml water
How to make Sarmale
- Prepare a large pot with salted water and bring it to a boil over high heat.
- Core the cabbage and carefully add it to the boiling water; cook for 10-15 minutes until the leaves soften.
- While the cabbage cooks, chop 1 onion and sauté it in a skillet over medium heat for 5-7 minutes until translucent, stirring occasionally.
- In a mixing bowl, combine 500 g of ground pork, 100 g of cooked rice, the sautéed onion, 1 teaspoon of salt, 1 teaspoon of pepper, and 1 tablespoon of chopped dill; mix well.
- On each cabbage leaf, place about 2 tablespoons of the meat mixture, folding the sides over and rolling tightly to enclose the filling.
- Layer the cabbage rolls in a large pot, then pour 200 g of tomato paste over them along with enough water to cover.
- Bring the pot to a gentle simmer over low heat and cook for about 1 hour until the rolls are fully cooked.
- Serve warm on a plate, garnished with additional fresh dill if desired.
What is Sarmale?
Sarmale is a traditional dish from Moldova, simmered in one pot, and takes about 120 minutes from start to finish. It is built around ground pork, tomato paste and rice. The recipe below uses 9 ingredients and is written out step by step.
How long does Sarmale take?
At 120 minutes it is slower than 79% of the 588 dishes in Copper's atlas. Copper's atlas has 10 dishes built on ground pork. The method runs to 8 steps, the longest being 10 minutes.
Any tips for making Sarmale?
Use fresh dill to enhance the flavor of the filling.
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