Gołąbki, Pork-Stuffed Cabbage Rolls

📝 Ingredients

• 1 white cabbage (about 1.2 kg)
• 500 g pork mince
• 150 g long-grain rice
• 1 brown onion + 2 garlic cloves
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp sweet paprika
• 1 tbsp rapeseed oil
• 1 tin chopped tomatoes (400 g) + 2 tbsp tomato purée
• 1 chicken stock cube + 300 ml hot water
• Salt, black pepper

🍴 Utensils

• Large stockpot
• Saucepan
• Frying pan
• Mixing bowl
• Ovenproof dish
• Clean tea towel

📖 Steps

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil. Cut out the cabbage core in a cone shape with a small knife, 5 cm deep. Lower the whole cabbage into the water, core side down, and cook for 3 to 4 minutes.
2. Using a fork, gently peel off the outer leaves as they soften, then return the cabbage to the water for the next layer. Collect 12 large, pliable leaves this way and drain them on a tea towel. Keep the rest of the cabbage.
3. Cook the rice for 8 minutes in a pan of boiling salted water: it should stay firm, as it will finish cooking inside the cabbage. Drain. Finely chop the onion and garlic, then fry them in the oil over a medium heat for 4 minutes, until softened.
4. Preheat the oven to 180 °C. In the mixing bowl, combine the minced pork, the cooled rice, half the fried onion, the egg, the paprika, 1 tsp salt and some pepper, until you have an even filling.
5. Shave the thick central rib of each leaf flat with a knife so it rolls without splitting. Place about 80 g of filling at the base of the leaf, fold up the bottom then the sides, and roll up tightly to the end, like a small parcel.
6. Finely shred about 300 g of the remaining cabbage and spread it over the bottom of the ovenproof dish: this bed stops the rolls from sticking. Arrange the gołąbki snugly side by side on top, seam side down so they don't unroll.
7. Dissolve the stock cube in the hot water, then add the chopped tomatoes, tomato purée and the rest of the fried onion. Mix well and pour this sauce over the rolls: they should be almost covered.
8. Cover the dish with foil and bake for 50 minutes, removing the foil for the last 15 minutes to let the sauce reduce. It's ready when the cabbage cuts easily with a fork and the filling is no longer pink in the middle.
9. Leave to rest for 5 minutes out of the oven, then serve 3 rolls per person, generously coated in tomato sauce, with the meltingly soft cabbage from the bottom of the dish.