Golabki aka. Cabbage Rolls

When I set out to make this recipe I knew it would be a challenge. But I wanted to do something more than just make corned cabbage with my beef on St. Patrick’s Day. So, the day before I set out to shrink the cabbage head by an inch or two and put the leaves to good use. I also had leftover rice and sauerkraut in the fridge so it seemed like a good choice.

If you’ve never had golabki, they are cabbage rolls. Each leaf is folded around what is like a mini meatloaf or meatball. Then they are cooked in a pan with sauerkraut and a tomato sauce. May not be your idea of a delicious dinner, but seriously, don’t know it til you’ve tried it. Even my husband requested seconds and thirds.

One big aspect of most golabki recipes like the ones my Polish grandmother and Slovak great aunts used: they are aimed at making about 100 cabbage rolls for church picnics. So, originally this was designed to be made by an assembly crew. Being an assembly crew of 1 and feeding only a crowd of 2, I made some adaptations to accommodate my sanity.

They turned out pretty well. There was a bit of swearing when removing the leaves from the cabbage head for boiling, and then some more swearing when removing the leaves from the pot with my fingers before they had cooled. But I was in a rush and somehow didn’t think to use a pair of tongs. This could be avoided by just boiling the whole head of cabbage, letting it cool, and then removing the leaves, but then you’ve got an awful lot of boiled cabbage.

Gobaki (Cabbage Rolls)

8 leaves of cabbage (peel off the outside of a head of cabbage)

1 lb ground beef

1 cup cooked rice (Any kind is okay; I used brown jasmine)

1 onion diced

2 tbsp crushed garlic

1 can V8 (12 oz)

1 can tomato sauce (8 oz)

2 tbsp ground pepper

2 tbsp olive oil

2 cups sauerkraut

salt to taste

Preheat your over to 350.

First, boil the cabbage leaves until pliable and slightly see-through. Remove with tongs and cool, unless you want to burn your fingers like me.

Next, while the leaves cool, brown the onion and garlic in the olive oil in a skillet. Mix half the contents of the skillet with the raw ground beef, cooked rice and ground pepper. Feel free to use your hands. This is the filling.

Divide the meat into 8 portions and place each one a the base of a cabbage leaf. Roll the filling into the leaf, tucking the loose end underneath. My leaves were not in very good shape, but just make sure most of the filling is covered. This is one of those practice makes perfect steps.

Then, place the rolls into a 9×9 pan or casserole and fill the space between them with sauerkraut.

Finally, mix the V8 with the tomato paste and the remainder of the onion and garlic in the skillet and pour over the cabbage rolls and sauerkraut.

Cover and cook for an hour and a half.

Makes 8 cabbage rolls