Stuffed cabbage rolls with mushrooms in a clay pot

Sarmale with opintici (ghebe), cooked in a clay pot, are a traditional delight that combines rich flavors and succulent texture. This recipe is perfect for a family dinner or to impress friends with an authentic Romanian dish. The total preparation time is approximately 3 hours, including 30 minutes for preparation and 2 hours and 30 minutes for cooking. The recipe is sufficient for 4-6 servings.

Ingredients:

- 500 g minced meat (pork or beef, according to preference)
- 200 g rice
- 1 large onion, finely chopped
- 2-3 cloves of garlic, crushed
- 1 carrot, grated
- 200 g fresh or canned opintici (ghebe)
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 pickled cabbage (or vine leaves, if preferred)
- 2-3 bay leaves
- 1 liter water or meat broth
- Oil for sautéing

For serving:

- Sour cream and freshly chopped dill

Preparation:

1. Prepare the ingredients: Wash the opintici under cold water, cleaning them of impurities. If using canned ghebe, drain them well. Finely chop the onion and crush the garlic. Grate the carrot and set it aside.

2. In a skillet, add a little oil and sauté the onion, garlic, and carrot over medium heat until translucent. This step will enhance the flavors of the dish.

3. In a large bowl, combine the minced meat with the rice, the sautéed onion, carrot, and garlic mixture, the opintici, egg, tomato paste, paprika, salt, and pepper. Mix the composition well until it becomes homogeneous.

4. Prepare the pickled cabbage: Remove the outer leaves and separate the cabbage leaves. Use the large leaves to wrap the sarmale. If the leaves are too salty, you can rinse them under cold water.

5. Wrap the sarmale: Take a cabbage leaf, place a spoonful of the meat mixture in the center, and fold the edges, forming a compact package. Repeat the process until you finish the composition.

6. Place the sarmale in the clay pot, alternating with cabbage leaves and add bay leaves between layers. Cover with water or meat broth, ensuring the sarmale are completely submerged.

7. Cover the pot with a lid and put it on low heat to simmer. Let the sarmale cook for 2 hours and a half, checking periodically to ensure they do not run out of liquid.

Practical tips:

- Opintici add a unique flavor to the dish, but you can also experiment with other mushrooms, such as porcini or champignon mushrooms, to achieve different flavors.
- If you prefer sarmale with a smokier taste, you can add some cubes of smoked bacon between layers.
- The clay pot helps retain moisture and flavors, but you can also use a regular pot if you don’t have one at hand.

Serving:

Serve the sarmale with a spoonful of sour cream on top and sprinkle with freshly chopped dill for an extra touch of freshness. This dish is ideal to be enjoyed alongside a glass of red wine, which will perfectly complement the flavors.

Enjoy these sarmale with opintici, a simple and delicious recipe that will remind you of traditional family meals!

The first thing we do is put water in the clay pot the night before and let it sit until the next day, as this better protects it and prevents it from breaking. First, we prepare the leaves: we wash the cabbage well and remove the core. In a pot, we boil water with salt and borscht. When it starts to boil, we add and blanch the cabbage leaves. We take them out into a bowl and let them cool. Filling: we clean the onion and chop it finely. We peel the carrot and grate it with a coarse grater. The boiled and cooled mushrooms are passed through a meat grinder. We clean the bell pepper of seeds and also pass it through the meat grinder. In a pan, we put more oil. When it heats up, we lower the heat and add the onion, sautéing it for about 5 minutes, then we add the carrot and let it cook for another 5 minutes, after which we add the chopped mushrooms and bell pepper, letting them cook briefly, and finally, we add the tomato paste and let it simmer for another 2-3 minutes. We let this mixture cool slightly. We wash the rice well in 3-4 warm waters. We put the rice over the mixture with onion, season with salt and pepper. We add chopped greens (dill and parsley) and 2-3 tablespoons of white flour to bind the composition. We cut the leaves to fit for the rolls. We finely chop the cores of the leaves and place them at the bottom of the clay pot. We wrap the rolls and place them in the pot. On top, we chop some more cabbage. We pour warm water with a little borscht over the rolls (but not too much borscht so they don’t become too sour). Put the pot in the oven and light the fire. The oven's heat should be moderate. Check the rolls from time to time. When they are ready, place them on a plate to cool and serve... They were delicious... yes, they were because there are none left...

 Ingredients: for the filling: 5-6 onions 3 carrots 1 bell pepper 1 cup rice 1 bowl boiled spinach fresh dill fresh parsley 4-5 tablespoons tomato paste salt pepper oil 2-3 tablespoons white flour for the wrapping: 2 green cabbages (or pickled, or grape leaves, whatever you have...) salt borscht

 Tags:  stuffed cabbage rolls opintici mushrooms roman vase rice cabbage