Christmas "Sarmades" - Pickled cabbage rolls stuffed with mince and rice

Another traditional and delicious recipe coming (mainly) from Northern Greece and which in many areas is considered as a classic Christmas meal but it can be found during the Winter-time in general. The main difference between the classic stuffed cabbage rolls and the Sarmades (Sarmas in singular) is that in the latter pickled cabbage is used instead of fresh cabbage. Also, this version rather rarely is served with the customary lemon and egg sauce (avgolemono) like we usually do with the classic cabbage rolls. Today's version can be found in Kastoria region and as you'll see the ingredients are rather few and the most basic for stuffed cabbage rolls. But, regardless the possible differences from region to region, this recipe is a great sample of what we call "comfort food"

Cooked by Dimitris Andreou,

"Cook Book" magazine of "ETHNOS" newspaper

Ingredients (for 4-6 people):
the leaves of 2 small pickled cabbages

1 Kg of ground pork

1 cup of rice, suitable for soups

4 tbsp of butter

3 glasses of water

some whole black peppercorns

pinch of salt
black pepper

Method:
The day before put the cabbage leaves in a large bowl full of water and allow to discard as much saltiness as possible changing the water often.

Next day, put the rice and the ground meat in a bowl and season with salt and pepper (just be careful with the salt because the pickled cabbage will hold some of its saltiness). Mix the ingredients with your hands to blend well.

Lay at the bottom of a large pot some of the cabbage leaves.

Get a good spoonful of the meat filling and place at one edge of the cabbage leaf. Fold into a roll and place it at the bottom of the pot. Continue in the same way until all the ingredients are used, keeping a few leaves aside and making sure that the cabbage rolls are very close together in the pot so not to open while cooking.

Cover the rolls with the leaves you kept aside. Add in the pot the butter, the water and the whole peppercorns and then cover the food with a plate.

Cover with the lid and cook the food in medium-low heat for about 30-35 minutes.

Serve while the rolls are still hot.