Polish Grandmas Stuffed Cabbage Recipes

GOLUMPKI - STUFFED POLISH CABBAGE (GOłąBKI)

Steps:

• Remove the stalk from the bottom of the cabbage head.
• Place the cabbage in a large pot filled with 12 cups of water. Cover and place over high heat.
• Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to medium. Continue to cook until the cabbage leaves become bright green and pliable, about 3-5 minutes. The leaves should not be limp, they should hold their shape.
• Remove cabbage from water and place on a cutting board until it's cool enough to handle.
• In a large bowl combine ground beef, pork, onion, garlic, grated lemon peel, egg, and rice. Place in refrigerator until ready to use.
• In a medium pot over medium heat add oil. Once simmering, stir in grated onion and cook, stirring frequently, for 2 minutes. Then, add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30-60 seconds. Pour in crushed tomatoes, water, salt, and pepper and increase heat to high. Once bubbling, reduce heat to low and simmer tomatoes for 15 minutes.
• Once the cabbage has cooled, remove the leaves from the cabbage head.
• Using a paring knife, cut the thick stem or membrane from the back of each leaf. Be careful not to cut through the leaf.
• Move oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• You will need a 9x13-inch baking dish and a smaller, 2-quart baking dish for this recipe. Spread ¾ cup of sauce in the bottom of a 9x13-inch dish and ½ cup sauce in the bottom of the 2-quart baking dish.
• Place 2 tablespoons of filling on the bottom half of a cabbage leaf.
• Fold up the bottom part of the cabbage leaf.
• Then, fold in the sides.
• Next, roll forward until the cabbage leaf completely covers the filling. Repeat with remaining cabbage leaves and filling.
• Place the stuffed cabbage leaves into prepared pans in neat rows. Pour the remaining sauce evenly over the cabbage rolls.
• Bake for 50-60 minutes, rotating pans halfway through baking.
• Place pans on a wire rack and cool for 10 minutes. Sprinkle with chopped fresh dill (optional) and serve.

POLISH STUFFED CABBAGE

Steps:

• You should try to find the largest head of cabbage possible. The larger the head the more leaves large enough to stuff.
• Put a large pot of water on to boil.
• When it comes to a boil place cored cabbage in it to soften leaves.
• Mix together beef, pork, rice, egg, onion, garlic powder, salt, and pepper.
• Peel off outer layers of cabbage when they are flexible. Cut out hard vein if needed.
• Lay leaves out flat put a portion of the meat mixture on the stem side of the leaf.
• fold leaf over the meat and fold in sides of leaf. Then roll up to the end. Make sure that you do not put so much meat that you can not roll it up.
• Place that roll into a deep oven safe dish or preferably a roaster with lid. Repeat until you have filled all the leaves large enough to stuff or you run out of meat filling.
• Mix together the tomato soup, tomato juice, and diced tomatoes.
• Pour the tomato sauce mixture on top of the rolls.
• Cover with foil or with roaster lid if available and bake for at least 90 minutes in a 350 degree oven. The longer and slower you cook these the better they are.
• Note: The cabbage rolls may be filled and rolled then frozen for later use. Thaw the rolls then continue on with the recipe.
• Note: This can also be made without the work of the traditional rolls. Make meatballs of the desired size, shred the cabbage and place in a layer on the bottom of the pan and then on the top of the meatballs before pouring the sauce over.
• Note: You may add sauerkraut to this recipe if you like. Just place it in a layer either under or over the cabbage rolls. This may be considered traditional but it is not how my family likes it.

POLISH GRANDMA'S STUFFED CABBAGE

Steps:

• 1. Get a big stock pot started to boil on the stove, and add just a pinch of salt. While you are waiting for water to boil, wash and remove the core from two heads of cabbage. Once your water is boiling, add 1 head of cabbage to the boiling water let cabbage boil until the leaves begin to loosen and fall of easily from the head. Use a sturdy set of tongs or a long meat fork to start pulling them off as they are cooked and place them in a colander to cool. Keep pulling the leaves off one by one until you get to the really small leaves, because you only want leaves that are large enough to fill with meat. I save the rest of the small head in the fridge to use for Haluski later. After you are finished with the first head, repeat with the second. Save your cabbage water as you will use this for flavor later.
• 2. Now you will prepare the filling :} First you will prepare the minute rice according to the directions cooking the ENTIRE box. Yes, the entire box. Trust me on this. While rice is cooking you can put your ground meat in a large mixing bowl, and dice your onions to add to the meat. Add your cooked rice to the bowl after it has cooled a bit because you are going to mix this with your hands. Mix meat, onions, and rice until completely combined and add salt and pepper to taste. (My grandmother never measures..just a generous pinch of each)
• 3. Now it is time to fill and roll your cabbages. Everyone in my family has their own technique, but I will try to walk you through my easy method. 1. Get a cooled cabbage leaf and lay it flat on your workspace. Use a small sharp knife to "fillet" off the tough vein that you will find running through the center of it. 2. Grab a hand full of your meat filling about the size of a large egg and place on the leaf near the bottom. (you will be rolling from the bottom up) 3. Roll up filling in leaf about half-way and then you are going to fold in the left side and right sides of the cabbage to "tuck it in". 4. Roll up all of the way and start stacking these babies on a tray. Keep filling and rolling until you have used all of your leaves. 5. Any left over filling can be rolled into a ball place in the roaster to cook. We call these porcupine balls. Usually the kids who don't like cabbage will eat these :}
• 4. Now it is time to put it ALL together to bake. This recipe is extensive...but it is WORTH THE TIME! You will need a large roasting pan or a large electric roaster. 1. Open, drain,and,rinse your sauerkraut with water. 2. Slice your kielbassi into 1/2 inch slices. 3. Open your cans of tomato soup crushed tomatoes and mix them in a pitcher or something with a lip as you will be pouring this mixture into the roaster. Add 5 cups of your saved cabbage water to this mix. Use a spoon to stir this mix together. 4. Pour just enough of your tomato mixture into the bottom of the roasting pan to create a nice base for your cabbage rolls. 5. Layer your cabbage rolls neatly into the roaster. 6. Sprinkle some sauerkraut and kielbassi on top of the cabbage rolls, and pour some tomato mix on top of that. 7. Continue with another layer of cabbage, kraut, kielbassi and sauce. 8. Keep up this layering process until you have used all of your cabbage rolls. If you have leftover sauce, generously pour the remaining over the finished layers.
• 5. Make sure that your oven or roaster has been preheated to 350 degrees. Cover your roaster with a layer of foil to keep in the moisture first and then a lid. Now cook for about 2hr. and 30 min. and prepare for your house to smell WONDERFUL!.

POLISH STUFFED CABBAGE

Steps:

• Place the head of cabbage in a large pot over high heat and add water to cover. Boil cabbage for 15 minutes, or until it is pliable and soft. Drain and allow to cool completely. Remove the hard outer vein from the leaves.
• In a separate large bowl, combine the beef, rice, garlic powder and the egg, mixing well. Place a small amount, about the size of your palm, into the center of a cabbage leaf and fold leaf over, tucking in the sides of the leaf to keep meat mixture inside.
• Pile up the filled leaves in a large pot, putting the larger leaves on the bottom. Add the tomato juice, vinegar and sugar and enough water to cover. Simmer over medium low heat for about 60 minutes. (Note: Keep an eye on them, making sure the bottom of leaves do not burn.)

GOłąBKI (POLISH STUFFED CABBAGE)

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• Fill a large pot with water, bring to a boil, and salt it .
• With the help of a sharp paring knife, remove the core from the cabbage by cutting around it. Remove and discard it.
• Carefully place the whole head of cabbage in the boiling water.
• Cover the pot and cook the head of cabbage for 3 minutes, or until softened enough to pull off individual leaves. You'll need 18 leaves in total.
• When leaves are cool enough to handle, use a paring knife to cut away the thick center stem from each leaf. Be careful not to cut all the way through.
• After retrieving 18 leaves, chop the remaining cabbage and place it in the bottom of a casserole dish with a lid or a Dutch oven .
• Heat up a large skillet, melt the butter, and add the chopped onion. Cook until tender and remove from the heat to let them cool off.
• Mix the cooled onion with the beef, pork, cooked rice, garlic, salt, and black pepper until well combined. Don't overmix or the meat will become tough.
• Flatten a cabbage leaf on a cutting board or work surface and place about 1/2 cup of the meat filling.
• Flip the right side of the leaf to the middle, then flip the left side.
• Flip the bottom of the leaf to obtain an envelope-shaped figure. The unstuffed part of the leaf will be triangular in shape.
• Tuck the leaf away from you to encase the meat and make a neat little roll.
• Repeat the process with all the leaves.
• Heat the oven to 350 F.
• Place the cabbage rolls, seam down, on top of the chopped cabbage in the casserole dish or Dutch oven. Season each layer with salt and pepper.
• Pour the beef stock over the rolls, cover, and place in the oven.
• Bake for 1 hour or until cabbage is tender and meat is cooked.
• Serve with a drizzle of sour cream , or alternatively, mix the pan juices with the sour cream and ladle it over the cabbage rolls. Enjoy.