Ukrainian Holubtsi with Meat
Ukrainian cabbage rolls with meat, or "holubtsi", are a classic Ukrainian dish that consists of blanched cabbage leaves filled with a mixture of ground beef or pork, rice, onions, garlic, and spices. The rolls are then baked in a tomato sauce until tender. We add sour cream to the sauce.
Ingredients
Ingredients:
- 1 cabbage
- 2 cups tomato paste or our sauce # 1 or 2
- 2-3 tbsp vegetable oil for frying
- 50 g butter optional
Filling:
- ¾ cup rice soaked overnight
- 2 pounds meat chicken, turkey, pork, or beef
- 1 sweet pepper
- 2 heads of onion
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 4 brown mushrooms
- 2 carrots medium size
- 1 Pinch of black pepper
- 1 tbsp paprika
- Basil spices to taste
- Salt to taste
Instructions
How to unwrap the cabbage
- Fill half of the pot with water and bring the water to a boil, add some salt. Reduce the heat to medium.
- Remove the core from the cabbage with a knife. Put the whole cabbage in the boiling water. The whole cabbage should be covered with boiling water. Cover the pot with the lid. In about 10 minutes, the leaves on the surface of the cabbage will soften.
- With the help of tongs or forks, peel the soft leaves, however, keep them and the cabbage in the boiling water. Remove those that have become supple and cooked, as you continue to unwrap the cabbage.
- Place the cooked leaves on a big platter and set aside to cool.1
- Once the leaves have cooled, trim the thick stems so that every leaf looks soft enough for rolling.
How to prepare the filling
- Preheat the frying pan, add 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil, and reduce to medium.
- Chop the onion and garlic, put on the pan, and sauté until golden.
- Meanwhile, chop the mushrooms. Then add them to the pan, mix well and continue to sauté for 5 minutes.
- Chop the red sweet pepper and grate 1 carrot. Add them to the vegetables in the pan. Also, add paprika and mix well all the ingredients. Cover the pan with the lid and continue to sauté for about 5 minutes. If you have basil spices, it is time to add them too.2
- Add the ground meat to the vegetables, sprinkle with black pepper, add ½ teaspoon of salt, break the lumps until the meat is an even mass, mix well with the vegetables, cover the pan with the lid and stir for 10-15 minutes, until the meat is ready.
- The final step is to add the pre-cooked rice, mix well with all the other ingredients on the pan and sauté for about 2-3 minutes.
- Put the filling aside to cool.3
How to make the cabbage rolls
- Take a leaf in your palm so it sits like a cup and put a tablespoon of the filling on it. (If the leaf is bigger, put 2 tablespoons). Tuck in one side of the leaf, then another, as if you were folding an envelope, ensuring that the filling doesn’t fall out.
- Then roll the leaf until it is sealed. If the leaves are small, you can just roll the stuffed leaf and then tuck both sides to close it.4
- Fill your pot or casserole dish with cabbage rolls in layers add bay leaves between the rows. When the pot or casserole dish is full of holubtsi, pour the hot cabbage broth to cover ¾ of the pan. Add leftovers of the red pepper or grated carrots and sprinkle your holubtsi with basil spices or fresh dill and parsley. Pour 5-6 tablespoons of tomato sauce on the top layer and bundle up your holubtsi with boiled cabbage leaves.5
- Cover the pan tightly with the foil and put it in the oven for 2 – 2.5 hours. If you use a pot, put the broth to a boil, reduce the heat to low, cover the pot with the lid and simmer holubtsi for approximately 1 – 1.5 hours. The preparation time depends on the softness of the cabbage leaves.
- When the rolls are ready, you can open the foil and let them broil for 2-3 minutes.
- Serve warm. Put the sour cream or fresh dill or parsley on the side.6
How to make the tomato paste and sour cream sauce
- Take 200g of tomato paste, Ketchup of diced tomatoes, and add 1-2 tablespoons of sour cream. Mix well.
- Add ½ of a grated carrot and/or ½ of a sliced red pepper.
- Add paprika, fresh dill, and parsley to the mixture. There is no need to precook this sauce.
How to make sour cream and mushrooms sauce
- Chop ½ of onion, 2-3 gloves of garlic, and put on the preheated frying pan. Sauté for 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile, chop 200 g of brown or white mushrooms.7
- Add the mushrooms to the onion and garlic in the pan, and simmer under the lid for about 10 minutes.
- Add 8 tablespoons of sour cream, and season with spices, such as black pepper, paprika, chives, marjoram, dill, parsley, or basil. Add salt to taste.
- Cover with the lid and sauté the sauce for 5-8 minutes.
Notes
Tip 1: Turn off the heat, but don’t discharge the cabbage broth, you can use it later for steaming the rolls.
Tip 2: Add spices when the food is being prepared on the frying pan to help the spices unleash their flavors and taste.
Tip 3: For convenience put the filling in a bowl close to you when you start working on the cabbage rolls.
Tip 4: If you cook cabbage rolls in the oven, as we did for this recipe, you can just coat the bottom of the pan with melted butter. It is better to cover the bottom of a pot or casserole dish with cabbage leaves so holubtsi don’t stick to the bottom. We found that cooking in a pot is faster.
Tip 5: We like to add 1-2 tablespoons of sour cream to the tomato paste. Try it if you will like it too. (See our sauce recipes # 1 or # 2)
Tip 6: Put the leftovers in the refrigerator. Many Ukrainian housewives like to warm up holubtsi in a frying pan and sprinkle them with fried onion.
Tip 7: Add portobello or shiitake mushrooms for a better taste.