Golabki with Mushroom Sauce

There is quite of bit of Polish ancestry on both sides of my family and I adore Polish food. This recipe for golabki in mushroom sauce is typical of what I like about Polish food. It is hearty and savory and so satisfying. Gołąbki (pronounced go-WUMP-kee, sometimes spelled “golumpki”) are made of cabbage leaves stuffed with a savory mixture of ground meat, rice, onion, and spices. They are rolled up and simmered in a rich tomato-based sauce or in this case in a mushroom sauce.

This sauce uses both fresh mushrooms and dried mushrooms. This results in a very flavorful gravy that thickens as it cooks with the rolls. The rolls are stuffed with seasoned meat and rice. As with any raw meat mixture, I suggest frying up a bit to check your seasoning before you stuff the rolls. This can save you from ending up with bland filling, meatballs or meatloaf.

This recipe makes quite a lot of cabbage rolls. We ate some for dinner, I put some in the fridge for lunches, and I froze the rest to reheat on a busy night. These take 60-90 minutes of cooking time, plus the prep time of blanching the cabbage and rolling, so these are good weekend project which you can either eat a few nights during the week, or freeze. See more of my dinner recipes here.

Golabki with Mushroom Sauce

Delicious cabbage rolls stuffed with seasoned meat and rice and baked in mushroom sauce

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Prep Time 50 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Total Time 2 hours hrs 20 minutes mins

Course Lunch, Main Course

Servings 8 servings

Ingredients

  

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For the filling:

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 lb ground pork
• 1 1/2 cups cooked rice
• 1 onion diced
• 4 garlic cloves minced
• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp kosher salt more or less to taste
• fresh ground black pepper
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 2 tsp onion powder

For the sauce and rolls:

• 1 oz dried mushrooms I used porcini
• 1 lb fresh mushrooms washed and sliced
• 4 tbsp butter
• 4 tbsp flour
• 2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
• 1 chicken bouillon cube or 1 tsp chicken powder optional – for extra flavor
• 1 cup sour cream
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 large green cabbage regular or Savoy

Instructions

 

• Heat oven to 350 and spray a 9×13 pan or casserole dish with oil spray. Prepare the cabbage by cutting out most of the center core and heating a large pot of water to boiling.
• Add the cabbage and blanche for 3-5 minutes. Start pulling off the larger outer leaves carefully while it simmers. Keep cooking and pulling off leaves as you go until you are down to the small ones.
• Combine the ground meats, rice, eggs and seasonings in a bowl with your hands. Mix well but gently as you don't want to pack the meat too much. Using a skillet, fry a small portion of the mixture and taste it for salt and seasoning level. Adjust as needed.
• Make the rolls by placing a few tbsp of filling into each cabbage leaf and rolling it up, then tucking the ends under and placing it in your dish. Once you have rolled all the cabbage leaves, make the sauce.
• Soak the dried mushrooms for about 10 minutes in boiling water. Drain them, squeeze out the water, and finely mince them. Chop your onions, garlic and slice the mushrooms.
• In a skillet, heat the butter over medium heat. Add the flour and whisk until well mixed. Slowly whisk in the stock and add the dried and fresh mushrooms and seasonings. Keep whisking until the sauce thickens up. Add a bit of water if it is too thick as it will reduce a little while baking. Taste it for seasoning and adjust as you like. Pour over the rolls and cover and bake for 60-90 minutes, until the meat is about 180 degrees and the cabbage is soft. Allow to cool for 10 minutes, then serve.

Keyword Beef, Lunch, Main Dish, Pork

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