Hungarian Layered Kale Cabbage – Magyaros Rakott Kelkáposzta
This is also a traditional Hungarian meal, especially in the season of fall/winter, spicey, a real comfort food. The salty cabbage, the paprika mince and the rice go together extremely well, the best with the extra sour cream.
It’s all about the mixture of flavors. Even though the cabbage is available all year around, therefore can be cooked anytime you feel like eating a classic juicy Hungarian dish.
Served for 4 person – Preparation time: 80-90 mins – preheated oven 180 °C about 30-35 mins
Ingredients: 1 kg kale cabbage , 500 gr of minced turkey breast or minced pork, 1 diced onion, 2 minced cloves of garlic, 3/4 cup uncooked rice, 550 gr sour cream, ground black pepper, 1 tbs sweet paprika powder, salt to taste, vegetable oil.
Cooking: Break the kale cabbage into leaves, clean carefully and remove the hard parts by cutting a narrow v-shape into the middle of the leaf. Cook in salted water until soft (15-20 minutes), then drain.
Meanwhile, sautee the diced onions and minced garlic in vegetable oil over low heat, stirring frequently, until translucent. Do not allow to burn. Salt lightly to help tenderize them. Add the paprika powder … pull off the heat and stir it for a short time so the paprika flavor really comes alive, then add minced meat, season with ground black pepper, salt to taste. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently, then pour in 100 ml of water, just to cover the meat, if the water evaporates just add alittle more water. Cover and cook for another 15-20 mins.
For the rice: Pan heat 1 tsp of vegetable oil, add the washed filtered rice and roast it for 1 minute, stirring frequently. Pour in 1,5 cups of water, salt to taste, cover the pot and turn the heat down to low. Cook until all of the water is absorbed takes about 12 minutes. Turn off the heat and leave the rice on the still warm element.
Into the oven: Grease a medium size baking dish. Put a double layer of kale cabbage on the bottom, then spread half of the cooked rice and half of the cooked meat. Again a new layer of savoy cabbage, and rice and meat and cover with the rest of the savoy cabbage.
Spread 2 cups of sour cream on top and bake it in preheated oven until the sour cream browns a little bit. Serve with more sour cream as you wish.
© Aggie Reiter
Rolling in Budapest 