Description
Swedish cabbage rolls: blanched cabbage leaves wrapped around a beef and pork filling with rice, baked and served with mashed potatoes and lingonberry jam. The dish traces back to the Ottoman Empire by way of King Karl XII.
Ingredients
Units
- 1/4 cup (60 ml) short-grain rice
- 1/2 cup (120 ml) water
- 3/4 cup (180 ml) milk
- 1 large head of green cabbage (12 large leaves)
- 1 large yellow onion, finely chopped
- 1 tbsp butter
- 5 oz (150 g) mushrooms, finely chopped
- 10 oz (300 g) ground meat (beef and pork mix)
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp ground white pepper
- Butter for greasing the baking dish
- 1 tbsp melted butter (for drizzling)
- 2 tbsp light syrup
- 1 1/2 cups (360 ml) reserved cabbage cooking water
- 2 tbsp concentrated veal stock
- 2 tsp cornstarch mixed with water
For Serving
- Mashed potatoes see (see On The Side)
- Lingonberry jam (see On The Side)
- Pickled cucumbers (see On The Side)
Instructions
- Combine rice, water, and milk in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer until the rice is soft and the mixture resembles a thick porridge. Let it cool.
- Cut out the core of the cabbage. Boil water in a large pot and add the whole cabbage.
- As the outer leaves soften, remove them one by one until you have 12 leaves. Save 1 1/2 cups (360 ml) of the cooking water.
- Pat the leaves dry on a clean towel. Trim the thick central rib from each leaf to make them easier to roll.
- In a large skillet, melt the butter and sauté the chopped mushrooms until browned and any liquid has evaporated. Set aside to cool.
- Sauté the onion in butter until soft, then let it cool. In a large bowl, combine the cooked rice, onion, mushrooms, ground meat, eggs, salt, and white pepper. Mix thoroughly to a relatively loose mixture.
- Place a generous tablespoon of filling in each cabbage leaf. Fold the thick end over the filling, then fold the sides and roll tightly into a packet. Place seam-side down in a greased baking dish.
- Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Drizzle the cabbage rolls with melted butter and syrup. Bake for 20 minutes, then pour the reserved cabbage water mixed with veal stock over the rolls. Continue baking for another 25 minutes, occasionally basting with the pan juices.
- Strain the pan juices into a saucepan. Simmer for a few minutes, then thicken with cornstarch mixed with water. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.
- Plate the cabbage rolls with the sauce, alongside mashed potatoes, lingonberry jam, and pickled cucumbers.
Notes
- Save 1 1/2 cups of the cabbage cooking water — it gets mixed with veal stock and poured over the rolls partway through baking, then strained and thickened into the sauce.
- Pull the cabbage leaves off one at a time as they soften in the boiling water, and trim out the thick central rib once each leaf is dry. That’s what keeps them from tearing when you roll.
- Mix the beef and pork filling with rice, sautéed onion and mushrooms, and two eggs to a deliberately loose consistency — it holds together fine once it bakes.
- Prep Time: 40 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Category: Recipes
- Cuisine: Swedish
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 440
- Fat: 24 g
- Carbohydrates: 28 g
- Protein: 19 g