If there is one meal that I love more than anything else in the world – this is it, Golubtsi or Russian Stuffed Cabbage Leaves. I could eat them every day and not get tired. And the amount I can devour is probably unheard of. I grew up eating them regularly so I’m sure it has a lot to do with my deep love for golubtsi, but even folks who try them for the first time become instant fans.
There are numerous variations, and virtually every culture in Eastern Europe and Asia has its own version. You can make it to fit different dietary styles – a vegetarian can use mushrooms and hard boiled eggs instead of meat, a Paleo follower can use a shredded boiled potato instead of rice. You can use ground pork or chicken as well, I just prefer the taste of beef.
HOW TO MAKE GOLUBTSI OR RUSSIAN STUFFED CABBAGE LEAVES
Get a white cabbage that is not too ripe, the leaves should be crunchy, and not overly tough. You can tell by looking at the big veins at the bottom of the head, if they are too big and there is no way you can nick them with your fingernail – the cabbage has been sitting on the patch too long.
Wash the cabbage and cut the base and the bottom of the leaves off, so the leaves can fall off after a little nudging, kind of like what you would do with a head of lettuce. Boil a medium pot of water, salt it, and place the leaves, two or three at a time, in the pot for several minutes before you take them out with tongues and reserve on a spare plate. The leaves should be just slightly cooked, soft enough to be pliable, but not fall apart:
While the leaves are cooking, prepare the stuffing: mix 1 pound of ground beef with one finely chopped and sauteed onion, one cup of cooked rice (or shredded boiled potatoes for grain free version), salt and pepper to taste, 1/4 cup of finely chopped dill, 1/4 cup of milk or water.
When the cabbage leaves are done, reserve the water. Stuff the meat inside the leaves. Start by placing 1/2 cup of meat stuffing at the bottom of each leaf (can vary the amount based on the size of a leaf), curl the bottom, then the sides, then roll:
After you are done with stuffing, put the rolls on a preheated frying pan and slightly brown the sides. This is done to firm up the rolls so they hold their shape after being simmered in sauce:
While those guys are cooking, make a simmering sauce. Mix two or three cups of reserved cabbage water (or if you have homemade bone broth on hand – it would be ideal! That would add a ton of gelatin and bone minerals to make this meal even more easily digestible), 2 tablespoons of tomato paste and 3 tablespoons of sour cream. Add salt and pepper to taste, and a tablespoon of paprika. Transfer golubtsi into a deep frying pan, or a Dutch oven (you would probably have two layers), and pour the sauce on top. You can sprinkle sour cream on top too.
Cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Serve with dill and sour cream; or put it on the bed of cooked buckwheat. When I use buckwheat, I cook it in bone broth instead of water, which gives it better flavor and adds more nutrients to the meal.
- 1 medium head of organic white cabbage
- [b][i]STUFFING[/i][/b]
- 1 pound of pasture raised ground beef
- 1 medium onion, chopped finely and sauteed
- 1 cups of cooked rice
- 1/4 cup milk or water
- 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh dill
- Salt and pepper to taste
- [b][i]SIMMERING SAUCE[/i][/b]
- 2-3 cups of reserved water from boiling cabbage leaves, or homemade bone broth
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 3 tablespoons sour cream
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Cut the bottom of the cabbage off, so the toughest part of the leaves is gone. The leaves should fall apart after you twist them a bit with your hands.
- Boil a medium pot of water, salt it and cook two-three leaves at a time for about 5 minutes. They should not be too soft. Put the cooked leaves on a spare plate for later use.
- While the leave are cooking, prepare stuffing. Mix ground beef, sauteed chopped onion, rice, milk or water, dill, salt and pepper in a bowl.
- Spread each leave and stuff it with 1/2 cup of meat mixture, then roll into a shape similar to Chinese egg rolls. Picture instructions are above.
- Brown the rolls on a preheated frying pan before placing them into a deep pan or a Dutch oven.
- Prepare the sauce: mix cabbage water or bone broth with tomato paste, sour cream, paprika, salt and pepper.
- Pour the sauce over the rolls, and simmer for 30 minutes.
- Serve with dill and sour cream. Enjoy!
3 comments
Do you have a lazy man’s cabbage roll casserole version?
Hi Bob, I actually do.. I’ll post it in the next couple of days!
i made kasha in bone broth. OMG. so i can imagine cooking this in broth would outflank the cabbage water lol but its a good use to get any nutrients cooked out of the cabbage…