Traditional Romanian Sarmale

Cabbage rolls filled with pork and rice, slowly cooked with smoked bacon for an authentic Romanian flavor.

240 min · hard

Ingredients

• 1 large cabbage
• 500g ground pork
• 150g rice
• 1 medium onion
• 200g smoked bacon
• 500ml meat broth
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 400g tomato passata
• to taste salt
• to taste pepper
• 2 bay leaves

Instructions

1. Soften the cabbage leaves in boiling water for 10 minutes, then drain thoroughly.
2. Mix the ground meat with raw rice, finely chopped onion, salt and pepper.
3. Fill each cabbage leaf with a spoonful of filling and roll tightly forming cylinders.
4. Arrange a layer of diced bacon on the bottom of a tall pot.
5. Add the sarmale in overlapping layers, pour the tomato passata diluted in broth.
6. Cover with bay leaves and cook on very low heat for 3 hours, until fully cooked.

Chef's tip: For a more authentic flavor, serve the sarmale with a spoonful of smântână (sour cream) and mujdei on top.