Gołąbki (Stuffed Cabbage Rolls)

Gołąbki

Serves .... about 12 ... ish

I used to love it when my babcia would make gołąbki. It was usually in autumn, when the cabbages were big and beautiful, and the days were cool enough to light the wood stove. Making gołąbki is not exactly difficult, but it is time-consuming - all that steaming of cabbage takes time - but I think the end result is worth it. When I saw a beautiful organic perfect cabbage at the wholefood coop last week I knew what I had to do. I still have the pot that my mother and grandmother used to make gołąbki, so it feels a little like they are still here with me in some way.

You could make a smaller amount of these cabbage rolls. That would lessen the cooking time. With all the effort that you go to, however, I think it makes as much sense to make a whole batch. I find that they freeze surprisingy well, so I make as much as I can out of one cabbage. Then as winter progresses, I can pop them out of the freezer to defrost in the fridge either the the night before or in the morning, and then heat them either in a frypan or in the oven for an easy dinner whenever I feel like it!

Ingredients

1 whole head of cabbage (large leafed, not savoy)
2 onions chopped
2 or 3 cloves garlic finely diced
800g beef mince
500g pork mince
3 cups cooked rice
2 tins chopped tomatoes
2 cups beef stock
1 cup of tomato sauce

Method

Take off the outer leaves of the cabbage and lay half of them in some water on the bottom of a large pot.
Bring it to a steady simmer.

Core the cabbage. lay it on the leaves, cover with the rest of the leaves and put the lid on the pot. Steam until the leaves come off easily. With some cabbages this may mean steaming, pulling off half the leaves, and then steaming again.

My lid did not fit easily... I laid it on top of the leaves, though!

While the cabbage is steaming mix the garlic, onion, rice, beef mince, and pork mince, and 1 tin of tomatoes until they are combined. When the cabbage leaves have been separated it is time to fill the leaves. You may need to cut peel the stem of the cabbage in order for it to roll more easily. 

Lay the cabbage leaf down. Place a ball of the stuffing into the centre. Fold the bottom up to cover it, then fold the sides in. Lift the leaf and stuffing and roll it onto the top of the leaf to close it. Continue filling until you run out of mixture or out of large enough leaves. I find most cabbages make between 20 to 30 rolls.

The following vid shows you how it is done... don't laugh, it's really hard to roll these with one hand!!

Discard the water from the pot you steamed the head of cabbage in. Replace half the outer leaves of the cabbage on the bottom. Place the cabbage rolls in the pot, filling each layer, until you have filled the pot to capacity. (I have never not been able to fit all the gołąbki into the one pot, but you never know - that day may come!). Pour in the tomatoes, beef stock, and tomato sauce into the pot. Cover with the rest of the leaves, put the lid on the pot, and put the pot on a slow heat. Leave it for 40mins to 1 hour - until all the gołąbki are soft and cooked.

Gołąbki in a serving dish, ready to be put on the table

Serve - my grandmother always served them with mashed potato and green beans. I like them like that too, but tonight I just had them with some crusty rye bread. It was cooked at home, but came out of a packet... still, it looks good, right? And there is no better bread than bread straight out of the oven...

Light rye bread hot out of the oven...
perfect for sopping up those leftover juices...