I apologise for a massive omission on my part – as my mum has kindly pointed out the blog was missing a Polish inspired cabbage rolls recipe UNTIL TODAY. Don’t get me wrong, I am a massive fun of stuffed cabbage rolls, any stuffed vegetables actually, and I have published a number of recipes in that vein already, like my Asian-inspired cabbage rolls, Greek dolmadakia, also Greek gemista (yemista), but I was admittedly dragging my feet on ‘gołabki’, which is what they are known as in my native language.
The main thing that was stopping me was that I wasn’t sure I will be able to convey to you how delicious they can be through the medium of photography alone. While they can taste delicious, they don’t tend to look the prettiest. Traditional stuffed cabbage leaves are most often made with a bog standard white cabbage, but I really love the texture and colour of Savoy cabbage so that’s what I used to make sure they are a little less anaemic to look at. The most commonly made filling is rice flavoured with minced meat, but the Christmas Eve version (which traditionally cannot contain meat) is made with dry porcini mushrooms. My version is very shroomy as I love mushrooms and they bring so much flavour to otherwise bland rice. I used a mixture of aromatic dried mushrooms and fresh mushrooms, some walnuts for texture, lots of herbs, a touch of soy sauce and balsamic vinegar for even more umami and I am really happy with how they turned out. They don’t look too shabby either, I roasted the tops of the parcels under a hot grill at the end for a touch of rusticity. In case you want to try this recipe out, but you would like to tweak it a little, here are a few pointers that may be helpful. MUSHROOMS: they are pretty key here as they contribute so much flavour, but I know that I will get asked what can be used instead. I have made a version of these with sun-dried tomatoes and it was just as delicious, the flavour profile was different of course but still lovely. Sun-dried tomatoes and crumbled smoked tofu (or soy mince) soaked in flavoursome stock would be my suggestion. RICE: This recipe also works with white basmati rice although I would shorten the pre-cook in porcini stock to only about 8 minutes. If you wish to use brown rice, I recommend precooking it until it’s almost done and skipping the rice simmering step, you’ll also need to make a stronger (240 ml / 1 cup) porcini stock and add together with wine (step 5). Traditionally cooked rice is used instead of raw, but my method makes the recipe less fussy. WALNUTS: They aren’t traditional but I like the little pops of texture they add. If you are not keen sub them with cooked lentils or beans (smashed up a little). HERBS: I used thyme, but rosemary, oregano, sage and parsley would also work beautifully. SOY SAUCE / TAMARI: It adds saltiness and depth of flavour. You could use red (ideally) miso instead or perhaps salt and some nutritional yeast, just go by your palate. TOMATO SAUCE: You could simply stew the rolls in well seasoned veggie stock (240-480 ml / 1-2 cups) enriched with a tablespoon or so of olive oil, some tomato paste / concentrate and some smashed garlic. PORTION SIZE: You can easily make half of the portion, just make sure that your baking dish is small enough that it holds all of the rolls in snuggly. EXTRA PLANT PROTEIN: You could swap some of the rice for precooked firm lentils (like Puy) or mashed up beans (like Cannellini or Borlotti), it will make the dish more protein rich. I hope I anticipated all the questions you may possibly have and that you will make this dish. It may sound daunting, but it really isn’t that technical, plus there are shortcuts you can take (like skip the sauce) and it’s a big portion so it feeds a crowd!
Make the filling by sautéing onion and garlic first, then add in chopped mushrooms in two batches. Cook the mushrooms through and until all of the liquids have evaporated.
Next, stir in raw rice and porcini stock. Cook briefly to soften the rice a little before it finishes off in the oven.
Prepare blanched cabbage leaves for stuffing. Using a sharp knife thin the stem so that the leaves are more pliable when filling and more pleasant to eat.
Fill the leaves with cooled down filling, rolling them tightly, like a burrito.
Arrange filled cabbage leaves, steam down, on a bed of thinned tomato sauce, cover the dish and bake. Then take off the lid and bake a little bit more so that the sauce reduces and the cabbage tops brown a little.
30 ml / 2 tbsp olive oil 1 medium onion, finely diced 4 garlic cloves, finely diced 2 x 400 g / 14 oz canned tomatoes (I like plum tomatoes) 15 ml / 1 tbsp tomato paste / tomato concentrate salt and pepper, to taste a good pinch of chilli (optional) 1 tsp sugar (optional)
*CABBAGE: You may need 2-3 cabbages as ideally you want large and medium leaves only. Keep the rest for a stir-fry or soup. *TOMATO SAUCE: You could simply stew them in well seasoned veggie stock (250-500 ml / 1-2 cups) enriched with a tablespoon or so of olive oil, some tomato paste / concentrate and some smashed garlic.
