Traditional German Cabbage Rolls
Step by step guide on how to make traditional German Cabbage Rolls.
Servings 4 people
Ingredients
- 1 white cabbage small
- 1 kg ground pork & beef
- 2 eggs
- 1 bread roll
- 2 tbsp mustard
- 2 tbsp majoram
- salt & pepper
- 500 ml beef broth
- oil and butter for frying
Brown Sauce
- 30 g butter
- 30 g flour
- beef broth
- 100 ml cream optional
- mash potatoes for serving
Instructions
Prepare the white cabbage - First way
- Take a large pot and heat up around 3l water. Wait until it starts boiling.
- In the meantime throw away the outside leaves of the cabbage.
- Carefully peel off 10 cabbage leaves.
- As soon as the water in the pot starts boiling place the cabbage leaves in the water and blanch for 2 minutes. The leave should soften a bit, especially near the stem area. Drain the leaves on the paper towel and set aside.
Prepare the cabbage - Second way
- Peel off and throw away the outside leaves of the cabbage.
- Cut the cabbage stem out.
- Place cabbage in a large pot and cover almost all of it with water.
- Bring it to boil and simmer for about 10 minutes.
- But using cooking tongs take out the outer leaves of the cabbage and drain them, if they don't come easily, leave the cabbage in water for another few minutes.
- When you have gathered enough leaves make use you drain them and set aside. Also, don't forget to the rest of the cabbage out of the pot.
Prepare the filling
- Take a small bowl and place the bread roll in it. Cover with cold water and leave it for few minutes. You want the bread roll to soak the water and become softer.
- In a large bowl mix together ground meat, mustard, marjoram, salt and pepper.
- Take out and sqeeze the water from the bread roll. Add to the mixture.
- Try the mixture and correct seasoning. You want your filling to be strong in flavour.
- As soon as you are happy with the taste of the filling add the egg and mix well.
Assemble the rolls
- Place the leave with the stem pointing your direction.
- Take a handful of the mixture and place it at the bottom of the leave.
- Fold the sides of the leaf and roll it (see the video). Set aside.
Cook the cabbage rolls
- Preheat the oven to 180°C or 350°F.
- Take our roaster and heat up oil mixed with butter (i use it for taste) to medium-high heat.
- Fry the rolls from all sides until the leaves get slightly brown.
- Fill the roaster with beef broth. Cover it with a lid and roast for 25 minutes.
Prepare the sauce
- From butter and flour make the brown roux by creating a smooth paste from butter and flour. To do that melt the butter in a medium pot on medium heat and add the flour. Take a cooking spoon and combine them.
- Lower the heat and cook for about 5 minutes or until the roux turns brown. The careful with the heat!
- By this time your cabbage rolls should be ready. In this case, take them out of the oven and pour 3 ladles of broth to your roux and stir vigorously with egg beater for a minute or two. If you are happy with the consistency to add the cream, like the season it with salt and pepper. If the sauce is too thick add another ladle of broth to the sauce and stir it again.
- Well done! Now you can enjoy your cabbage rolls! So go ahead and serve with mash potatoes and sauce on the top.