Sarmale recipe

Cabbage rolls wrapped in whole leaves of brine-soured cabbage, the sourness that separates Romanian sarmale from every other cabbage roll in the region.

4 hoursmedium11 ingredients

Ingredients

• 2000 g pickled cabbage leaves
• 500 g ground pork
• 300 g ground beef
• 200 g smoked pork ribs
• 200 g rice
• 1 onion
• 100 ml tomato sauce
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tsp black peppercorns
• 30 ml sunflower oil

How to make Sarmale

1. Take a 2 kg whole head of pickled cabbage, separate the leaves, rinse them only if very salty and shave down the thick rib; sweet fresh cabbage gives you a different dish, not sarmale.
2. Soften 1 large chopped onion in 30 ml sunflower oil for 6 minutes and let it cool.
3. Mix 500 g ground pork, 300 g ground beef, 200 g rice, the onion, 1 teaspoon dried thyme, salt and pepper.
4. Put a heaped tablespoon of filling on each leaf, roll it and tuck both ends in.
5. Line a heavy pot with shredded sour cabbage and a few of the 200 g smoked pork ribs, then pack the rolls in tight layers with more shredded cabbage and ribs between them.
6. Add 100 ml tomato sauce, 2 bay leaves, 15 peppercorns and water just to cover, and weigh the rolls down with a heatproof plate.
7. Simmer on the lowest heat for 3 hours, or bake covered at 160 °C for 3 hours.
8. Let them rest overnight if you can; they are better reheated the next day, served with polenta and sour cream.

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