Now I didn’t get the recipe from my husband’s mother or Auntie – but my husband gave this cabbage rolls a nine out of ten. Ranking them better then his Mum’s but not as good as his Auntie’s who he would give a 10 out of 10 to.
He thinks that hers are better as she grows the cabbage in her backyard and literally cuts the cabbage out of the garden the morning and storing them in small chest freezers of her making these tasty morsels. She also doesn’t use savoy cabbage – just normal cabbage.
I must admit that there is nothing better then veggies that have been grown in your own backyard – so maybe we will be planting out our veggie patch with some mini savoy cabbages next year?
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| The filling of my traditional croatian sarma {cabbage rolls to you and me} |
TRADDITIONAL CROATIAN SARMA {CABBAGE ROLLS TO YOU AND ME}
1kg of pork mince
200 grams diced speck
4 cloves of garlic, crushed
1/2 bunch of spring onions
1 cup of wild rice
2 tablespoons of vegeta
2 tablespoon of paprika
1 egg
2 heads of mini savoy cabbage
3 litres of water
1/2 cup of apple cider vinegar
250 grams of pork ribs
1 brown onion
2 bay leaves
1 can of crushed tomatoes
1 tablespoon of olive oil
extra paprika
Pull the larger leaves off the savoy cabbage {you’ll want to remove about 2/3 of the leaves – finely slicing the remaining cabbage and set aside} and place into a pot of simmering water to wilt. Drain the leaves and allow to cool whilst you prepare the filling.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the pork mince with the diced speck, garlic, spring onions, wild rice, vegeta, paprika and egg. Once the mixture is well combined set aside.
In a large pot, brown off the pork ribs and a sliced onion in a little olive oil. Remove the pot from the heat, add some of the finely sliced cabbage and then the apple cider vinegar.
Take about a 1/4 cup’s worth of the mixture and place it in the middle of a blanched cabbage leaf. Roll up and and place on top of the base of onions, pork ribs, and pickled cabbage. Continue to roll the cabbage rolls until you have a full layer, then add more sliced cabbage before repeating the process.
Once all the cabbage rolls have been rolled, top the dish off with any remaining sliced cabbage, a can of crushed tomatoes, the bay leaves and a sprinkle of paprika. Add the water into the pot {you may or may not need 3 litres, but you want your cabbage rolls in water, but not floating in water}. Place the pot on the stove to simmer for at least 4 hrs. The longer these cabbage rolls cook the nicer they are.
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| Packing my cabbage rolls into the pot |
