Sarmale

Sarmale is the Romanian word for stuffed cabbage, and it is considered our "national dish" more than anything else is. Even though people all over the world take meat and rice and wrap a cabbage or vine leaf around it, the Romanians have cultivated this recipe into an art form, and the results are really special. The version here aims to be both healthier and simpler than other versions that you will typically eat in Romania (and find explained in cookbooks and online tutorials), containing less saturated fat and leaner meat than most Romanian cooks tend to use. I prefer to buy my own pork meat and mince it myself at home, so that I know how much fat is in it, and can buy a leaner cut of meat to mince.

In the winter we use pickled cabbage, but in the summer we use green cabbage, and the latter is what I'll be using here.

Image from Pixnio

Choose a cabbage with loose outer leaves, because you will need to be able to detach each of them individually without tearing the leaf itself. For this recipe you need 10-15 leaves. If you happen to have several cabbages of this sort, you might just use the outer leaves from several cabbages for the sarmale. The inside of the cabbage can then be shredded for use later in this recipe, or used for a different recipe like coleslaw.

Place a large pot with water on your stovetop and bring it to a boil with the lid on. Place two or three leaves at a time into the boiling water for about 10-20 seconds each, until the leaves are softened slightly, to make them more flexible and easier to roll. After you have done this with all of them, allow them to cool before continuing.

A tightly-wound cabbage is much harder to use because leaves tend to tear. But if that is all you have to work with, you can proceed in the following manner. Place the whole cabbage in boiling water. Remove it every 15 seconds or so (using protective gloves so you don't burn yourself) and cut or tear off the outer leaves which have been loosened through boiling. Repeat this process until you have enough leaves.

Ingredients for the filling mixture:

• 1 lb (1/2 kg) minced pork 
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1/2 green bell pepper, diced
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 2 tbsp rice or 1 cup boiled rice
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 tsp dry dill
• 1/2 tsp thyme
• Optional: 1 tsp paprika 

You will also need cabbage (obviously) from the beginning of the process. Later in the process, you will need the following additional ingredients (listed separately from the filling mixture above to avoid confusion): 

• 4-5 oz tomato paste or 2 cups of diced tomatoes
• 2 bay leaves
• A dash of thyme
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• salt
• Optional: crushed red pepper 

Reminder: these do not go into the filling mixture! 

Mix the ingredients for the filling mixture together in a large bowl.

Then proceed to take cabbage leaves one at a time. Place a spoonful of the filling mixture on a leaf and roll it up tightly, as shown in the videos below.





Repeat until you run out of filling and leaves. This quantity of ingredients should produce about 20 sarmale.

Stack the sarmale inside a slow cooker for the best results. (You can also cook them in a pressure cooker or even an ordinary pot. But the procedures in those cases are very different and not those described here.) Add water to cover all but the top layer of sarmale, plus 1/2 cup oil, the 2 bay leaves, a dash of thyme, salt, and crushed red pepper if you want them a bit spicier. 

Set the slow cooker on high until it starts boiling, then turn it down to low and leave for 4 hours.

After 3 hours, remove the lid and add the tomato paste (or tomatoes). It should be spread evenly across the top, without stirring or disturbing the sarmale that are already in the slow cooker. The best way to do this with tomato paste is to spoon out a little of the liquid from the slow cooker into a small bowl and mix it together with the tomato paste. The result can then easily be poured back into the slow cooker. Replace the lid and turn up the temperature to bring the contents back to a boil, and then turn it down again. 

When they are ready, they can be served with sour cream on top and bread or mamaliga (polenta).

Poftă bună!