Romanian Sarmales

Name: Romanian Sarmales
Prep time: 5 h
Cook time: 4 h
Total time: 9 h
Cuisine: European, Eastern European
Ingredients: 1 lb ground pork; 1 lb ground beef or turkey; 1/2 cup Arborio rice; 1 onion (diced); 1 Tablespoon dried oregano; 1 Tablespoon dried basil; 2 Tablespoons olive oil; 2 large jars of pickled cabbage (or 1 large cabbage that has been frozen); 700 mL tomato sauce; 10 slices bacon; Fresh thyme sprigs; 4 bay leaves; Salt (to taste); Pepper

3 steps

Prep:5hCook:4h

Our family favorite Sarmale recipe! (This photo is not a photo of this specific recipe, but just an example of sarmale. It does look very similar to this, but no photo has been taken of this recipe yet). (Photo from https://simonacallas.com/2017/07/sarmale-romanesti-in-foi-de-varza/)

Updated at: Wed, 16 Aug 2023 21:06:06 GMT

Nutrition balance score

Unbalanced

Glycemic Index

Low

Glycemic Load

Moderate

Nutrition per serving

Calories762.5 kcal (38%)

Total Fat52 g (74%)

Carbs36.4 g (14%)

Sugars14.6 g (16%)

Protein35.2 g (70%)

Sodium544.5 mg (27%)

Fiber4.5 g (16%)

% Daily Values based on a 2,000 calorie diet

Ingredients

6 servings

1 lbground pork

1 lbground beef

or turkey

½ cuparborio rice

1onion

diced

1 tablespoondried oregano

1 tablespoondried basil

2 tablespoonsolive oil

2 jarspickled cabbage

or 1 large cabbage that has been frozen

700 mLtomato sauce

10 slicesbacon

Instructions

Filling

Step 1

Boil rice and set aside. Dice onion and sauté 1/2 of onion in skillet. Once softened, combine in large bowl with ground beef (or turkey), ground pork, cooked rice, oregano, basil, salt, pepper and 1 tsp water. Hand mix.

ground pork1 lb

ground beef1 lb

arborio rice½ cup

onion1

dried basil1 tablespoon

salt

pepper

Making Sarmale Rolls

Step 2

Remove cabbage leaves from jar (or pull off of frozen cabbage). Cut larger leaves in half, and also trim off the hard part. Scoop a spoonful of filling and place in cabbage leaf. Fold sides in and roll up, not leaving any opening. Set aside any extra cabbage pieces (will use later). Repeat until all sarmales made. Stack on plate.

Cooking the Sarmale

Step 3

In a large pot, add other 1/2 of onion with olive oil and sauté. Add in some of extra chopped cabbage. Cook 2 min. Layer some of Sarmale rolls to cover bottom of pot. Sprinkle chopped bacon, extra chopped cabbage, 2 bay leaves and 4 thyme springs. Do a second layer of Sarmale and repeat until all Sarmale used. Add a little bit of sour cabbage juice if still available (not more than 1/2 part cabbage juice 1/2 part water). Ensure enough water is added to cover. Bring to boil and then simmer on low 2 hrs. Add tomato sauce and simmer 2 more house. When finished, carefully pull out Sarmale and place on plate. Serve with sour cream! *recommend keeping broth and turning it into a soup. Sometimes we like to add extra rice or any leftover Sarmale meat.