Sarma is a traditional Serbian dish, best described as stuffed cabbage (sauerkraut) meat rolls. It is very flavorful, and a nice winter meal.
Ingredients:
Filling:
1 to 1.5lb ground beef
1 to 1.5lb ground pork
1/2 to 1lb bacon (or prosciutto for the delux version) cut in very small pieces
2-4 eggs
A pinch of salt
Ground black pepper
Spanish Paprika
2-3 minced onions 1/4lb cooked rice (half done, not fully cooked)
Rolls:
One or two cabbages (about 3 to 5 pounds)
3 tbs Kosher salt
2 tbs sugar
1 to 1.5lb smoked pork ribs
½ to 1lb smoked bacon slices
Preparation:
First, prepare the cabbage leaves. They will be used to stuff them with the meat filling, so you’ll need as many whole leaves as possible. Discard outer leaves of cabbage. Cut the core of the head of cabbage, and place it in boiling water with 1 and ½ tbs Kosher salt until cabbage is partly cooked. Then separate the leaves and cut the hard white sections in triangular shape. Each leave will hold a portion of filling the size of one or two large meatballs.
Filling: Mix by hand the ground beef, pork and bacon pieces. As you mix the meat, you can add the onion, rice and the eggs. The rice will finish cooking with the meat. Add table salt and pepper to taste.
Stuffing the cabbage: Put a portion of meat (the size of one or two large meatballs) inside a cabbage leaf and carefully fold the leaf until meat is completely covered. Think of a spring roll but using cabbage leaves as the outer shell. The end result will look like an elliptical shaped roll. These rolls are what is called sarmas.
In a slow cooker, on the bottom, place a layer of cabbage leave left-overs, and a layer smoked pork ribs. Now you can put the sarmas in the slow cooker and cover them with sauerkraut leaves, any left-over ribs, and smoked bacon. Make brine with left over Kosher salt and sugar in boiling water. Let water cool to room temperature, mix paprika and then pour over sarmas. Cook sarmas on medium for approximately 3 hours, until meat is cooked.
Serving Ideas:
Sarmas are great by themselves, or with potatoes (boiled or mashed). They also go well with plain spaghetti or over white rice.
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