Golabki Golubsty Krautwickel Toltott Kaposzta Sarma or my own Red Cabbage Rolls on another slow food Saturday.
Fascinating how so many European countries have their own version of cabbage rolls - some use pork & veal mince, some just pork mince, others beef mince & some quite an amazing combination of meats. Some add breadcrumbs, others cooked rice or risoni pasta. Some use passata, others tomato puree, tomato juice, tomato soup or no tomato at all.
Cabbage can be overlooked compared with its cousins Asian bok choy & Italian cavolo nero - but it is just so good for slow food.
In fact when I checked my cooking library & the web, I found so much diversity in styles.
I loved the look of the Polish Golabki and the Italian Pork & Tomato Cabbage Rolls on www.Taste.com
My really lovely book of German Cooking from Hahndorf I brought back from a trip to Australia's Barossa Valley has Krautwickel. I found another version of Krautwickel in an old Country Style magazine. I had been surprised to discover that Krautwickel does not contain tomatoes in the sauce.
Many are distinctly tomato-ey - although the "Family Circle Microwave Cookbook" is more sauerkraut & less tomato.
The Hungarian Toltott Kaposzta on the SBS site features sauerkraut - again no tomatoes. I really want to try out the Croatian Sarma - also from SBS's foodie site - but I need to save that for a really really slow Saturday.
Then there are the Golubsty in the beautiful "The Delights of Russian Cuisine" that I discovered at the Brisbane Expo. It is tomato-ey with carrots in the tomato sauce.
AWW's "New Casserole Cookbook" version has a more Moroccan feel - like the version on their web page - whilst their "Country Cooking" features an Italian version with prosciutto, parmesan, white wine & risoni pasta. Then there's another Italian version on www.Taste.com with chargrilled capsicum & basil leaves. Julie Stafford's Cabbage Rolls in her "Taste of Life from the Microwave" are also Moroccan-like
I've even seen a Greek version somewhere ...
Anyway I decided to do an improv - I had run out of green cabbage leaves - so decided to try the red cabbage I had in the fridge - but I had never seen red cabbage rolls anywhere before to be honest - and whilst it started out as one of those "take a can of soup" style - it certainly diverged. My significant other even queried had I decided to do "special" cabbage rolls with the red cabbage. I wondered what colour the dish would end up given the combination of tomato & red cabbage. It emerged to be a deep rich colour - almost identical to the colour of the Pokerface 2008 Cabernet Merlot.
- 6-12 large cabbage leaves - red or green - depending on preference - steamed for about 5 minutes then cooled - need to be tender enough to roll but not too soft either
- 500 gm pork & veal mince
- 1 egg beaten
- 1 cup cooked rice
- 6 spring onions sliced finely
- 1 445 can tomato soup - Heinz "Big Red Spicy Tomato" is best - but will need to add water during cooking to prevent dryout & burning
- 1 tbspn lemon juice
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 bay leaf
- few grinds of black pepper
- shake of sweet paprika, marjoram, caraway seeds & dried parsley
- toothpicks
- extra water
- dill
- Combine all ingredients except cabbage leaves, lemon juice & tomato soup - mix well
- Take 1/3 cupful's or amount to fit neatly into each cabbage leaf when rolled up - roll up - secure with toothpick(s)
- Place small cooked unused cabbage leaves in base of greased casserole dish
- Pack cabbage rolls in layers on top of cabbage leaves
- Add tomato soup to top carefully & then sprinkle in lemon juice
- Cover & place in oven set at 180oC - cook for 1 - 1/2 hours
- After first 20-30 minutes - check to see if too dry - add extra water if necessary - spoon sauce over cabbage rolls
- Repeat after 60 minutes.
- Can be served sprinkled with dill & crusty bread - we had Ciabatta.
And lots of leftovers for those frantic after work dinners next week
I might just keep on using the red cabbage leaves in future.
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