Another Russian cooking Friday!
I made borshch a while back, and today I made golubtsi, which are kind of like Russian burritos. Except, of course, they don’t have tortillas in Russia, so none of that wheat stuff. You gotta use something that Russian cooking is full of — cabbage! That’s right, golubtsi are traditionally a rice and meat filling wrapped in a cabbage leaf, with tomato sauce. I didn’t take any pictures this time around, but there are some good ones here.
Here’s my recipe. They were surprisingly quick and easy.
Core a head of cabbage and boil it in lightly salted salted water for 10-15 minutes. Carefully peel off 8-10 leaves, taking care not to rip them. Set aside.
For the filling: Saute one small onion, diced, with 1-2 seeded and diced tomatoes. In a bowl, mix together 1 cup cooked rice, 2 cups ground meat or veggie equivalent (veggie ground, textured vegetable protein, diced mushrooms, etc), onion and tomato, large spoonful tomato paste from a 6 oz/170 g can, and salt and pepper to taste.
Place a large dollop of filling on the inside of each cabbage leaf and fold together “like an envelope”. Stick a toothpick through the folded ends to hold it together. Repeat until filling is used up.
Put assembled golubtsi to fry in a pan with melted butter, turning once. (Use a fork and the toothpick to hold on to them as you flip them.) Meanwhile, put the rest of the tomato paste in a sauce pan mixed with water or broth, and a spoonful of sugar. Add one or two bay leaves and bring to boil, allow to thicken to tomato soup consistency.
Put fried golubtsi in a casserole dish. Remove the toothpicks and pour tomato sauce over them. Place in a 350 F oven for 30-45 minutes. If you have a meat filling, you want to make sure it is cooked through. If a veggie filling, you are just wanting the cabbage leaves to be soft.
Serve with tomato sauce spooned over them, and a dollop of sour cream.
My taller half and I are going to a dinner next weekend, with the theme of “Russian food cooked badly.” A kinder way to put it might be “Amateur Russian cuisine night,” because the group is made up out of a few first generation immigrants and people like me, who have studied abroad in Russia and gained some familiarity with the cuisine. If you’ve been following this blog for a while, you might remember that I occasionally make borshch beet soup. My taller half, who came to the US at age 14, has told me that “it’s good, but it’s not borshch.” This might be because I am making a vegetarian version without the traditional beef bone or other bits of meat involved, but really I suspect it’s because I’m not his mother. Read More 