GoodFoodWeek

A collection of recipes, an assortment of motherhood tales and a mixture of memories.

  • Home
  • Recipe Index
  • About
  • Work with me
  • FAQs
  • Contact
  • Disclosure

Recipe: Cabbage Rolls {Traditional Croatian Sarma}

June 10, 2015 by Shari 3 Comments

My husband is Croatian and I have managed to master a few of his favourite Croatian meals over the 10 years that we have been together. One meal I have often thought about making, but never actually put my mind to creating is Sarma or Croatian Cabbage Rolls. Well, that was until a couple of weeks ago when I bit the bullet and even created my own pickled cabbage {from the mini savoy cabbages that I have been raving on about lately}.

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?

The filling of my traditional croatian sarma {cabbage rolls to you and me}
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.

Packing my cabbage rolls into the pot
Packing my cabbage rolls into the pot
Do you have any tradditional dishes that you make? Do you make a version of cabbage rolls? Do you think that they are best served with rice, potato, or polenta?

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)

Related

Filed Under: Dinner, recipe Tagged With: cooking, food, Paprika, Pork Mince, savoy cabbage, seasonal produce

« Recipe: Monday meal ideas – Spice up your life
Life: 5 new blogs a day »

Hi, I’m Shari Wakefield and I am the creative director and social media manager behind the food/lifestyle blog GoodFoodWeek. I’m a mum to four beautiful boys, who spends her days working in corporate communications and her nights cooking up a storm in her kitchen. We reside in Sydney, Australiaread more

Follow

Social

  • Bloglovin
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Instagram

goodfoodweek

Family meals for my tribe of 6
Get in my belly… I’ve been reading a lot abou Get in my belly…

I’ve been reading a lot about self love of late. I feel like there is so much self sacrifice when you’re a mother, and yet I am starting to realise that I need to love myself first to be a better mum and partner.

So here is to starting with something small for me. These @byronbaycookies are the business!!
Self love sometimes looks like just surging up lef Self love sometimes looks like just surging up leftovers and taking yourself to bed with a good book.
Living my best loft, devouring the end of the smok Living my best loft, devouring the end of the smoked trout…

And the toasted bagel thins I made using @thebagelco_australia which I order through @delishdeliveries (why isn’t there a chef’s kiss emoji??)
Still eating hot crossed buns - making the most of Still eating hot crossed buns - making the most of lazy mornings and short work weeks…

However, I still seem to feel that mum guilt. I mean, I think I need to do a little more than just follow @drsophiebrock (@smallbusinessgrowthclub has so many good things to say about Sophie)… am I doing enough? Are they happy? Am I creating good memories for them? Am I giving them good life skills and coping tactics? Am I creating enough one on one time with each of them?

I know I’m a people pleaser, a perfectionist (and some … scrap that… most people I know say I am also an over achiever). How do I flip my thinking to focus more on the positive and not be so critical of myself? As I don’t want to pass on this trait to my kids.
When you go to serve the dessert and find that @ph When you go to serve the dessert and find that @phillipujdur has no delayed gratification 🤦🏼‍♀️
Korean beef bowls - minimal effort, maximum flavou Korean beef bowls - minimal effort, maximum flavour. 

Again @delishdeliveries did the majority of the work in preparing the Bulgogi beef.

Boil the rice. Stir fry the beef. Toss some gem lettuce with black sesame seeds and sushi seasoning. Top it all off with kimchi.

Mine was store bought. @staceyclare_healthcoach have you ever made your own kimchi? Have you got a good recipe?
Load More... Follow on Instagram

Categories

Work with Me…

I’ve been working with brands and writing sponsored content since 2010.
Some of the brands that I have worked with include; Foxtel, Tommee Tippee, Murray Valley Pork, Mater Mothers, Redbelly Citrus, Home Hello, Majestic Mushrooms, and Littlebean Organics.
If you’re interested in working with me, I’d love for you to get in contact. Find out more.

Plan your school lunches


PlayWithFood

Shari from GoodFoodWeek

GoodFoodWeek started in 2008 as a way of sharing recipes with uni friends and family who were spread near and far. It has evolved over the years to contain my ramblings as I’ve searched for a house, planned the perfect veggie patch, stumbled through farmer’s markets with my eye half open (because you need to be there at 6am to get the fresh eggs), had babies, gathered family and friends around a shared table, laughed out loud and enjoyed life to the fullest! Read More…

Find me on Facebook

Find me on Facebook

Also contributing to…

Copyright © 2022 · Foodie Pro Theme by Shay Bocks · Built on the Genesis Framework · Powered by WordPress

 

Loading Comments...