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I love dishes that are rich with tomato. Doesn’t matter if it’s a vegan Filipino Afritada stew over rice or a simple pizza for parents that uses canned tomatoes from Italy. I’ve always found the taste of tomatoey dishes comforting. Probably because I grew up eating Filipino-style Spaghetti and Filipino Afritada.
That’s why I’m back with this Vegan Golubtsi Inspired Autumn Cabbage Rolls Recipe.
This recipe is adapted from Bonnie Frumpkin Morales’ Golubsti recipe. Before I was vegan I was a rather enthusiastic foodie and I thought her restaurant, Kachka, was one of the best restaurants in Portland. And anyone who’s ever been to Kachka knows that their cabbage rolls are a hit! When I was already vegan and her cabbage rolls were no longer on my radar, I was ecstatic to find her recipe online because she specifically had a vegan version of it! You best believe I got on that right away.
I started making her cabbage rolls years ago. Through the years, I’ve played around with different seasonal ingredients and methods. So, years later, I now have my own different adaptations of her awesome recipe. And I am immensely grateful to the talented Bonnie for that.
Something I noticed the very first time I use this recipe is that it is pretty lengthy. I remember the first time, I started at 7am and don’t think I even finished until the late afternoon or even early evening! Fortunately, I’ve learned what works and doesn’t and something that helps me loads is splitting this into a multi-day project.
And, not surprisingly, the cabbage rolls came out perfect each time. The labor is worth it.
In Bonnie’s original vegan recipe, she uses oyster mushrooms and for this Vegan Golubtsi Inspired Autumn Cabbage Rolls recipe, I decided to stick with it since it’s mushroom hunting season here in the Pacific Northwest. In fact, a dear friend foraged some oyster mushrooms at one of the local parks here in Portland proper and generously gave me a huge bag of them.
For tihs Vegan Golubtsi Inspired Autumn Cabbage Rolls, I also used seasonal ingredients that I got from my subscription box from Milkrun.
So how do we make our Vegan Golubtsi Inspired Autumn Cabbage Rolls? Here we go:
Preparing the cabbage:
We start out with a huge savoy cabbage. I’ve cooked with two smaller cabbages in the past but having to work with only one is much easier in terms of organization.
Turning the large cabbage in boiling water can be tricky with just one big one but it’ll work with patience and two long utensils.
After boiling the savoy cabbage, we shave down the ribs with a paring knife so that the leaf is easier to roll. I like to take my time with this part but it can be tedious so I’ll listen to music or watch a show. Obviously I have to be careful since I’m using a knife!
We use as many of the leave as we can and we stop when we’re about to hit the base of it…when the head is about the size of your fist and you know you can’t roll it. It’ll be obvious. When you have a good pile of leaves, put it in the fridge in an airtight container.
Cut up the remaining leaves into thin slices and set it aside with all of the rib shavings. Store the leaves in an air tight container in the freezer and store the rib shavings in another airtight container in the fridge for the sauce which we are making next.
Making the sauce:
We bring a large pot to medium heat and coat the bottom with oil that has a high smoke point.
We cook the half of the thinly sliced leeks for 7 minutes on medium high. Add the garlic and cook for another 3 minutes. Then we add the carrots, cabbage trim and handful of parsley and cook for another 3 minutes.
We will add the crushed tomatoes and cranberry sauce along with the ¼ cup of water. We then bring the mixture to a boil and immediately bring it down to a simmer for 20 minutes. Salt to taste. Always. While this is simmering, we start work on the filling!
When it’s done, we let it cool down before storing it in the fridge for the next day.
To make the filling:
Bring a large pan to medium heat and coat the bottom with oil. Add leeks and cook for 10 minutes until they’re a light golden color.
Add the garlic and oyster mushrooms and cook for another 20-25 minutes until a light golden brown. This does take a while because of mushrooms’ moisture.
Bring pan and contents to cool then add the cooked rice and parsley. Salt to taste. Always salt to taste properly. Salt enough.
Day 2: Assembling, frying and baking.
Cabbage Roll Assembly
We take a leaf and put a ⅓ of the filling at the bottom of the leaf. Then we fold the sides in if possible to secure the rice. Then we start to roll away from us, gently stretching the end of cabbage leaf to make sure we have a tight roll. Careful not to tear!
At this point, we will preheat our oven to 400° F and also line the bottom of our dutch oven with at least ¼-1/3 of the sauce.
Then we start to carefully fry the cabbage rolls at medium high heat for 3-4 minutes per side.
I tend to fry about 5-6 at a time but the original recipe suggests only 3-4. You can try to work out what works best for you. They take longer to cook this way but less batches to dry. I also like to use a splash guard while it’s frying.
For each batch that is done frying, we add it to the dutch oven, making a layer on the bed of sauce underneath.
I never have a consistent way to arrange the cabbage rolls. I just make sure to stick to one layer at a time. It does help to have the cabbage rolls oriented the same way for ease of serving but I generally don’t care for my own.
After we set down the first layer of cabbage rolls, we cover it up with sauce and fry up the rest.
We cover the second and top layer of the cabbage rolls with the remaining sauce and bake in the oven for one hour. Then reduce the heat to 350° F and bake for another hour.
When done, remove from the oven and let cool. Serve the cabbage rolls with vegan sour cream and some torn cilantro (or chopped dill if you prefer) on top!
Autumn Cabbage Rolls with Savory Cranberry Sauce
Autumn Cabbage Rolls with Savory Cranberry Sauce recipe perfect for the holidays. This recipe is adapted from Bonnie Frumpkin Morales’ Golubtsi recipe.
- Yield: 12–14 Cabbage Rolls 1x
Ingredients
1 large savoy cabbage head or 2 smaller cabbage heads
Sauce:
- 1 medium or 50 grams of carrot, roughly diced
- 1 leek stem (or 170 grams), thinly sliced
- 28 ounces or 1,587 grams of canned tomatoes, crushed
- 4 cloves of garlic, roughly minced
- 1 cup canned cranberry sauce
- ½ cup of water
- Kosher salt to taste (taste appropriately)
Filling:
- ¼ cup vegetable oil (or another oil with high smoke point)
- 1 leek stems, thinly sliced
- 2 leeks’ set of leaves, roughly minced
- 8 oyster mushrooms, roughly diced (5 oz)
- 4 cloves garlic, crushed and roughly chopped
- 1 handful chopped parsley (or cilantro)
Topping:
- Vegan sour cream
- Chopped dill or torn cilantro leaves
Instructions
Prepping and cooking the cabbage leaves:
- In a large stockpot, boil cabbage for 10-15 minutes, rotating to cook all sides. This takes 10-15 minutes depending on the size of your cabbage head(s) so keep an eye.
- When done, carefully remove and let cool.
- When cool, remove and discard the outermost leaves. Remove the next single most outermost leaf and use a clean towel to remove the excess water by patting the leaf.
- Shave down the rib of the leaf. Do this for all the leaves until we get down to the core of the head which is the size of an apple. Set aside the rib trimmings as we will use this for the sauce. Chop up the rest of the cabbage leaves from the tiny core that would be too small to roll and roughly chop them into ½” pieces. Set aside and put them separately in air tight containers in the fridge.
Making the sauce:
- Bring a large pot to medium heat and add enough oil to coat the bottom. When oil is hot, cook the leeks for 5-7 minutes until they’re a light golden color. Add the garlic and cook for another 3 minutes until garlic is very aromatic – don’t brown. Then add the carrots and cabbage trim and cook for another 3 minutes until everything has been throughly mixed and cooked.
- Add the crushed tomatoes and cranberry sauce along with the ¼ cup of water. Mix the contents of the pot thoroughly. Properly salt to taste, bring the mixture to a boil and immediately bring it down to a simmer for 20 minutes. While sauce is simmering, work on the cabbage roll filling.
Making the cabbage roll filling:
- Bring a large pan to medium heat and add enough oil to coat the bottom. Add the the leeks and cook for 10 minutes until they’ve broken down. Because leek leaves tend to be fibrous, we want this to break down as much as it can now even though this sauce will bake in the oven later.
- Add the garlic and oyster mushrooms and cook for another 20 minutes until almost caramelized. This takes a while because of the moisture from the mushrooms.
- Bring pan and contents to cool then add the cooked rice and parsley (or cilantro). As always, properly salt to taste.
Assembling the cabbage rolls:
- Take each cabbage leaf and lay it out flat in front of you vertically.
- Add ¼ or ⅓ cup of filling to the bottom of the leaf and start rolling up. Fold the sides in as you go to help tuck the filling. Gently stretch the end of the cabbage leaf to ensure a tight roll. Do this for the rest of the cabbage leaves and filling.
Finally cooking the cabbage rolls:
- Preheat the oven at 400° F and add a third of the cranberry sauce to the bottom of the dutch oven creating a bed of sauce. Set aside but still on the stove where it’s close enough. Will need it as we fry our cabbage rolls.
- Bring a large pan to medium high heat and add oil. When oil is hot, carefully add the cabbage rolls. I try not to crowd the pan so much and the size of the cabbage rolls matter. I can cook 5-8 pieces at a time without crowding. Cook each side for 3-4 minutes.
- When the cabbage rolls are done frying, add to the dutch oven, creating a single layer or cabbage rolls. Cover the cabbage rolls with sauce.
- Repeat the process with the rest of the cabbage rolls and sauce. If there is excess sauce, just add it to the rest of the contents in the pot, making sure it’s evenly distributed.
- Cover the dutch oven with the lid and set on middle rack in oven. Bake for one hour. Then reduce heat to 350° F and bake for another hour.
Serving:
- When cabbage rolls are done, serve two or three at a time. Top with vegan sour cream and fresh torn cilantro or dill.
