Sarmale, Romanian sauerkraut rolls

Name: Sarmale, Romanian sauerkraut rolls
Ingredients: 1.5 kg ground pork; 3 medium onions (450 g); 4 tablespoons rice; 1 tablespoon pisătură; 3 tablespoons tomato paste; 1 teaspoon sweet paprika; 1 egg; 1 teaspoon dried thyme; 4 large heads of sauerkraut; 4 bay leaves; 2000 ml water

Meat - Sarmale, Romanian sauerkraut rolls by Narcisa F. - Recipia

Sarmale, Romanian sauerkraut rolls, are made for Easter with pisătură, salted smoked pork fat with rind, ground and added to the filling, then simmered for 3-4 hours. Pork, rice and onion make a filling that holds together, while the leaves soften in the cooking liquid and keep it snug. I eat them with hot pepper, without crushing them. Prep: 60 minutes. Cook: 3-4 hours. Total time: 4-5 hours. Servings: 8. About 520 kcal and 36 g of protein per serving.

Ingredients

1.5 kg ground pork
3 medium onions (450 g)
4 tablespoons rice
1 tablespoon pisătură
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
1 egg
1 teaspoon dried thyme
4 large heads of sauerkraut
4 bay leaves
2000 ml water

Preparation

1. Separate the cabbage leaves. Chop the cores and torn leaves for the layer underneath and on top of the rolls, finely chop the onion and rinse the rice. 2. Heat a frying pan, add the pisătură and onion and cook for 5 minutes, until the onion softens. 3. Add the rice, tomato paste and sweet paprika. Keep the pan on the heat for another 10 minutes, stirring. 4. Add the mixture to the ground pork. Add the egg and thyme and mix well. 5. Spread the chopped cabbage over the bottom of a pot. Put some filling on each leaf, roll them up and arrange the sarmale in the pot, tucking the bay leaves between them. 6. Cover the sarmale with cabbage leaves or chopped cabbage and pour in 2000 ml water. Simmer for 3-4 hours, until the cabbage is soft and the meat and rice are cooked.

Notes

Keep in the fridge for up to 3 days in a covered container; when reheating, add a little cooking liquid from the pot. Thin the thick leaves with tough ribs using a knife before filling, and overlap small leaves if needed. Sauerkraut varies a lot in saltiness: taste the leaves and chopped cabbage, then rinse them briefly in cold water if they are too salty. Choose pork with a little fat; very lean meat leaves the filling drier after the long simmer. Pisătură is salted smoked pork fat with rind, passed through a meat grinder; finely chopped smoked pork fat, 15 g, works in its place. The filling contains egg. I start cooking a few hours before the meal, and if I double the amount, I divide it between two pots so the sarmale stay under the cooking liquid. Serve with sour cream and hot pepper; in Oltenia, piftie is served too.