Cabbage Rolls: This beloved Eastern European dish is a cherished staple at communal feasts and family meals alike. The filling for cabbage rolls can feature a delightful medley of ground meat blended with rice or buckwheat, accompanied by an assortment of mushrooms, grains, or vegetables. Across different regions, these delectable rolls go by varying names such as “Gołąbki” in Poland, “Holubtsi” in Ukraine, “Holishkes” in Jewish cuisine, and “Sarma” according to my Croatian friend Vesna. Notably, the Croatian rendition of cabbage rolls stands out for its incorporation of fermented cabbage, imparting a uniquely tart and tangy flavor profile to this classic dish.Traditional cabbage rolls are served with tomato sauce but I prefer them with mushroom sauce. The choice is yours.

To make the cabbage rolls as a vegetarian option, substitute the ground beef with ground walnuts. I have made it many times for my daughter Madzia and she loved it!

Yield:12-15 cabbage rolls

Ingredients:

• 1 large head cabbage regular or savoy

• 3 cups cooked basmati rice or any cooked grain such as buckwheat, millet or barley

• 1 large onion, finely chopped

• 500 g ground beef or any ground meat of your choice

• 1 tablespoons olive oil

• 50 g dry wild mushrooms, presoaked overnight

• 1 egg

• 1/2 cup parsley, chopped

• 1/2 cup shredded fresh carrots

• 1 tsp minced garlic

• 1/2 tsp paprika

• 1 tsp thyme

• 1.5 tablespoons salt

• 1/2 tsp white pepper

• 1 liter vegetables broth

Instructions:

1. Cook wild mushrooms in its liquid until soft. Drain, safe the liquid, chop mushrooms finely.

2. Fill large stockpot with water, enough to cover the cabbage. Add salt and bring water to boil.

3. Cut the core out of cabbage and remove the larger loose outer leaves and set them aside. Place remaining cabbage in the boiling water, core side down. Cover the pot and let sit for 5 minutes until the leaves loosen up. Remove cabbage leaves that easily detached, continue blanching cabbage until all leaves come apart. Steamed leaves must go immediately into a cold water bath to ensure they stop on cooking. Cut coarse section from base of each leave. Blanch gently the outer leaves that you have saved at the beginning. Let the leaves dry off in the colander.

4. NOTE: If you are using a savoy cabbage, the cooking time for cabbage leaves is much shorter as it is much delicate cabbage. I like to use a savoy cabbage for my cabbage rolls because it has a nice mild flavour.

5.Sauté the onions and garlic for five minutes. Add chopped wild mushrooms. Cook covered for another 5 minutes on the lower heat..

6. In the large bowl combine cooked rice or grain of your choice with raw ground beef, thyme, paprika, egg, fresh parsley, shredded carrots and salt / pepper. Add onion mushroom mixture. Make sure the stuffing is well seasoned as some of the flavors will be absorbed by the cabbage leaves during cooking.

7.Prepare 33 cm x 23 cm casserole dish. Arrange couple small leaves that can’t be used for wrapping on the bottom of the pan.

8. Count how many good leaves you have for stuffing. Based on that, divide the stuffing between all undamaged leaves. Place stuffing on the base of each leaf. Not all leaves are the same size therefore you might end up with couple of smaller cabbage rolls ( place more filling for larger leaves and less for smaller leaves).

9. Fold each leave with stuffing. Overlap edges, tuck the top and bottom edges. Place, fold-side down in the casserole dish. Repeat the same procedure for all remaining cabbage leaves with stuffing.

10. Cover the cabbage rolls with remaining unused leaves from cabbage which gives a good protection from getting burned. Cover cabbage rolls with vegetable broth until immersed in liquid. Wrap the casserole dish with parchment paper and foil. Note: I don’t usually make extra layers of cabbage rolls because they get easily damaged when handled during meal time.

11. Bake the cabbage rolls in the pre-heated oven at 350°F or 177°C for 90 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 165°F or 74°C.

12. Once they are cooked, remove layer of top cabbage leaves and pour the mushroom sauce ( see the recipe below) over cooked cabbage rolls.

13. Place cabbage rolls in the oven for another 30 minutes uncovered.

14. Serve with additional mushroom sauce which is nice to have handy on side. Garnish with fresh dill.

Mushroom Sauce: preparation for approximately 500ml of sauce

Ingredients:

• all leftover liquid from the wild mushrooms

• 2 cups chopped fresh cremini mushrooms

• 1 shallot, fine dice

• 1/2 tsp minced garlic

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

• 2 tablespoons flour

• 1 cup vegetable broth

• 1 cup 35% cream

• 1/2 tsp sea salt

• 1/4 tsp white pepper

• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill

Instructions:

1. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat.

2. Stir in flour making a paste (roux) until golden brown. Gradually add cream and vegetable broth stirring continuously with the whisk until the mixture comes to boil and thickens. Reduce the heat and add salt and white pepper as per your desire taste buds.

3. In a separate pan, melt butter, saute the shallot and garlic until transparent, add chopped mushrooms. Cook for 5 minutes. Add cream sauce and fresh dill. Let it come to light simmer.

4. Pour mushroom sauce over cabbage rolls and garnish with fresh dill or parsley.

Bon Appetite! Smacznego!