Catherine travels to Osijek, Croatia to learn how to cook an iconic Croation dish 'Sarma'.
Ingredients
Serves: 6
- 1 bigger sour cabbage (about 1 kg) - sour cabbage type of cabbage popular in Croatia
- 300 g smoked meat (bacon & ribs or any other selection of cuts roughly chopped)
- 400 g sour cabbage (finely chopped)
- 2 laurel leaves = 2 Bay Leaves.
- 1 teaspoon mixed ground black pepper
- Ingredients for the Stuffing
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 200 g onion (finely chopped)
- 30 g bacon (finely chopped)
- 800 g minced meat (pork and beef) = 400g pork + 400g beef (800g in total)
- 4 cloves garlic (finely chopped)
- 1 egg
- 80 g rice Type - White Rice
- 100 ml water
- 1 teaspoon ground sweet pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt
- Ingredients for the Roux
- 3 tablespoons oil
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 1/2 teaspoon ground sweet pepper
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 300 ml water
Method
- Sauté finely chopped onion and bacon in heated oil.
- Add minced meat, garlic, an egg, rice, water, ground sweet pepper, salt and black pepper. Stir well.
- Separate cabbage leaves from the root and cut off hard parts. Rinse under water.
- Add meat mixture to one leaf, roll and push the ends towards the middle.
- Take the half of chopped cabbage and spread it on the bottom of a pot. Spread smoked meat on top of the cabbage. Arrange the rolls circularly on top of everything, add laurel and black pepper and cover everything with the remaining chopped cabbage.
- Pour enough water to cover the cabbage and put on the stove to cook. When it boils, lower the heat and let simmer for 2 hours.
- For the roux, sauté flour on oil until it becomes light brown. Stir constantly, and slowly add sweet ground pepper, tomato paste and water.
- Add the roux to sarma and stir well. Let simmer for a little longer. Serve sarma with mashed potatoes.
