These tasty cabbage rolls are known as Sarma and are a must-try food all over the Balkans.
Serves: 4
Ingredients
- 1 large cabbage
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 each onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 cup rice
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 each egg
- 1 tablespoon parsley
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon salt
- Pepper to taste
- 15 ounces tomato sauce (medium sized can) 2 cups sauerkraut, or kisla repa (Sour Turnip) 1 1/2 cups water
Instructions
Remove the core from the cabbage. Bring a pot of water to a boil shut off heat and place head of cabbage in hot water. Allow to sit for 15 to 20 minutes.
Place oil in heated sauté pan and add the chopped onion. Sauté for about a minute and then add the chopped garlic. Continue sautéing until the onion- garlic mixture starts to lightly brown. Then add the rice to the onion-garlic mixture and sauté until rice starts to toast – stirring constantly..
Place the onion, garlic, and rice mixture in a large mixing bowl. and allow it to cool a bit Add the ground beef, egg, paprika, parsley, and salt to the mixture. Add 4 tablespoons of the tomato sauce and pepper (to taste) to the mixture and then using your hands, combine the mixture.
Start removing the leaves from the cabbage head and “shave the vein” with a knife on each leaf. Place a heaping tablespoon of the meat mixture in the middle of a cabbage leaf. Roll the cabbage leaf like a burrito stopping to fold each side in, before continuing to roll.
In a 9 x 9 casserole dish, spread 3 tablespoons of tomato sauce in the bottom. Add the cabbage rolls to the casserole in single layer and spread the sauerkraut over the top of the cabbage rolls. Spread the remaining tomato sauce over the sauerkraut. Add the water over the top of the cabbage rolls. Place additional cabbage leaves over the top of the casserole and cover with aluminum foil.
Place Sarma in a preheated 350° oven for about two hours. Remove the foil and the cabbage leaves that were placed on top and serve the Sarma.
Yield: 8 rolls
Nutrition
Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 638 Calories; 36g Fat (50.0% calories from fat); 27g Protein; 53g Carbohydrate; 6g Dietary Fiber; 149mg Cholesterol; 2061mg Sodium. Exchanges: 2 1/2 Grain(Starch); 3 Lean Meat; 3 Vegetable; 5 1/2 Fat.
