Smoked and Sour Stuffed Cabbage Rolls

Hey there, Stuffed Cabbage Rolls is a flavour-packed dish and comes with a lot of fun in the making too! So let's roll up our sleeves and embark on a culinary journey filled with aromatic spices, savoury pork, and tangy sour cabbage. Let's get cookin'!

Ingredients:

• 1kg of Mangalitsa pork belly, minced (Can't find Mangalitsa? No problem! Regular pork belly or pork shoulder will do just fine.)

• 2 heads of big, normal cabbage (Not Savoy or any fancy variety)

• 200g smoked pork ribs

• 200g of Hungarian-style smoked bacon (Kolozsvari szalonna)

• 500g of sour kraut (or any similar soured cabbage)

• Bay leaves

• Ground Cumin

• Sweet and hot paprika

• 2 red onions, diced

• 200g of rice

• Lard (for that authentic touch!)

• Fresh Dill - a generous amount

• Sour Cream (Hungarian or Romanian origin, preferably with at least 12% fat content)

• 300g/500g of Polenta (Cornmeal Flour) (Alternatively, you can use 3-4 potatoes for mashed potatoes)

Equipment:

• 3 saucepans

• 1 stockpot

• 1 pressure cooker

• Frying pan

• Plates to serve

Method:

1. Let's start by browning the diced onions in some lard in a frying pan. Add the rice and cook until they become golden and aromatic. Set them aside to cool.

2. Boil some water and carefully steam the cabbage heads. Once they're tender, peel back the softened leaves and keep them aside.

3. If the pork belly isn't minced already, give it a good mincing and then mix it with paprika, pepper, salt, garlic, and the cooled onions.

4. Now, let's assemble the star of the show—take each cabbage leaf and wrap the minced pork belly mixture in them to create around 10 delicious cabbage rolls.

5. 
   

Line the pressure cooker with sour kraut and add the smoked ribs, Hungarian bacon, and fresh dill for an explosion of flavors.

1. Nestle the stuffed cabbage rolls in the pressure cooker and add water until they are almost covered.

2. Close the pressure cooker and cook for 30-40 minutes until everything gets beautifully tender and aromatic.

3. Time for the dill sour cream magic! Finely chop the remaining fresh dill and mix it with the sour cream for that tangy, herby goodness.

4. Cook the polenta in salted water and set it aside to cool. Alternatively, prepare some creamy mashed potatoes as a tasty substitute.

5. To serve, plate up the tantalizing cabbage rolls with a generous side of polenta or mashed potatoes, drizzle the dill sour cream, and garnish with freshly cut parsley.

Struggled rolling those tiny cabbage leaves?? Well... this is the ideal size of cabbage :)