Sarmale — Print Recipe — The Culinary Codex

Tender cabbage leaves wrapped around a savory filling of ground beef and rice, slow-cooked in a tomato sauce until meltingly soft, served with sour cream.

Ingredients

1 large head sauerkraut cabbage
500g ground beef
200g rice, rinsed
2 onions, finely diced
2 carrots, grated
400g crushed tomatoes
2 tbsp tomato paste
2 tbsp sunflower oil
1 tsp sweet paprika
1 bay leaf
Fresh dill, chopped
Salt and black pepper
Sour cream for serving
200ml beef broth

Instructions

1 Carefully separate cabbage leaves, cutting out the thick central rib from each leaf. Rinse sauerkraut leaves to reduce excess saltiness if needed.
2 Sauté one diced onion in oil until golden. Mix with ground beef, rinsed rice, grated carrot, paprika, dill, salt, and pepper.
3 Place a spoonful of filling on each cabbage leaf. Fold the sides in and roll tightly into compact cylinders.
4 Layer the bottom of a Dutch oven with shredded leftover cabbage. Arrange rolls seam-side down in tight concentric circles.
5 Mix crushed tomatoes with tomato paste and beef broth. Pour over the rolls. Add bay leaf and remaining diced onion on top.
6 Cover tightly and cook on very low heat for two and a half hours, or in the oven at 160C, until rice is tender and sauce is rich.

Did You Know?

Moldovan families often make sarmale in batches of one hundred or more for holiday gatherings, and they taste even better reheated the next day.