Kålpudding – Swedish Lazy Cabbage Rolls
“Cabbage Pudding” is an old standard of husmanskost, or Swedish traditional home cooking. It is very similar to the local version of cabbage rolls, but less complicated to put together.
I have really enjoyed trying different Swedish dishes since we’ve been living here, and trying my hand at making some of them. Expect to see more of that soon. It’s probably been several years since I put together any proper cabbage rolls at all, and I’ve never cooked the Swedish style. The type I’m more used to are more coalfields Hungarian influenced, cooked with tomato which then gets used for a sour cream sauce. (Likely also the subject of a future post.) But, the tomatoless take here is also delicious.
The only cabbage we currently had was already cut into, and I felt like fixing something slightly less involved anyway. So, I decided it was a good time to go ahead and put together this equally scrumptious “lazy” version. (Also for the first time.) It’s not a quick dish to make either, but most of that is the baking time.
Much like with meatballs, boiled potatoes are evidently the most classic accompaniment, but this should go equally well with mashed potatoes or even rice. Yesterday I opted for some buttery parsley potatoes. This also uses a rich gravy made with the pan juices, and generally cream.
Also classic is a dollop of lingonberry on the side, for a pop of sweet-tart contrast. You can use lingonberry jam (or even whole berry cranberry sauce, if that’s difficult to find). But, best is rårörda lingon (“raw-stirred”). It’s properly made with the raw berries, just stirred and crushed around enough to release some juices then sweetened to taste. Here, a jarred version is also readily available, which we’re using here. But, it’s generally much less sweet and jammy tasting, so you get more of the fresh tartness. To my own taste, that works much better with savory dishes. But, I am not a huge fan of salty-sweet flavor combos in general.
Kålpudding – Swedish Lazy Cabbage Rolls
Materials
For the Cabbage
- 600 g white cabbage (1⅓ lb., or 5-6 cups) in bite sized pieces
- 1 large onion, or two smallish chopped
- 2 tbsp butter
- salt and white pepper to taste, can substitute black pepper
- 1 tbsp ljus sirap / golden syrup or to taste, could substitute slightly less brown sugar
- coarsely ground pepper
Meat Filling
- 500g mix of ground beef and pork (1 lb.) or ground pork
- 300 ml cooked rice (1¼ cup) good use for leftover rice
- 1 large onion, or two smallish chopped finely
- 2 tbsp butter for softening the onion
- 1 egg
- 100 ml heavy or double cream (⅓ cup)
- ½ tsp table salt
- ¼ tsp white pepper or use black
- ⅛ tsp ground allspice
- 1 tbsp soy sauce (gluten free if needed)
- 2 tbsp liquid beef stock concentrate
- OR enough Better than Bouillon or crushed cubes to make 500ml/2 cups of broth, plus an extra teaspoon of soy sauce and enough water to make about 2 tbsp total
Cream Sauce
- 200 ml pan juices from the casserole (or ¾ cup) plus water as needed to make the full amount
- 150 ml heavy or double cream (or ½ cup; see notes)
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 50 ml milk (or ¼ cup) plus extra if needed for consistency
- 1 dash ground allspice
- white pepper to taste it probably won't need more salt
To Serve
- 750 g firm-cooking boiling potatoes (or 1½ lbs.)
- butter as desired
- 1.5 tbsp chopped parsley fresh or frozen
- lingonberry jam preferably the less sweet rårörda lingon
- OR tart whole berry cranberry sauce
Instructions
Ingredient Prep
- Assremble and prepare your vegetables.I cut the cabbage in advance, and wished I'd used more as called for here.
- If you're cutting/peeling larger potatoes, keep them to the side in water to cover.
- Soften the more finely chopped onion in butter. Reserve to the side to cool.
- Start the oven preheating to 180℃/350℉.
- In the same pan, start frying the cabbage and other onion over medium heat. After coating in the melted butter, add some salt and pepper and cover to let it steam in its own juices to soften for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- In the meantime, assemble the ingredients for the meatloaf layer.
- Place all the filling ingredients into a suitable mixing container, and combine well. Mixing with your hand(s) is the way to go here, and disposable gloves are awesome.
- This will result in a pretty loose mixture, but don't worry. It will firm up when it's cooked.Tip: One quick and easy way to test for seasoning while you can still adjust it, is to place a bite of the raw meat mixture on a suitable dish and microwave it for maybe 30-45 seconds or until it looks cooked. You could also fry it. This did need a little more salt.
- The cabbage may be close to done by now. Once it is on the slightly more tender side of tender-crisp, remove the lid. Fry for a few more minutes, stirring occasionally.You want at least a little browning. Near the very end, drizzle on a little syrup (or sprinkle sugar). Taste to adjust seasonings. I have to say I was initially skeptical of the syrup addition here, but just a subtle hint of added sweetness did work well. That will also help it caramelize if you want it browner, but I didn't want to risk seriously overcooking it to take it very dark.
- Grease an 8"x8"/20cmx20cm baking dish. Layer roughly half of the cabbage on the bottom.
- Add on an even layer of the meatloaf mixture.
- Top with the remaining cabbage.
Cooking
- Bake the casserole for 45 minutes.
- While that's cooking, put on the potatoes to boil in well-salted water.
- When those are done, drain well and gently stir in some butter and the parsley. Don't worry about absolutely even distribution at this point. Cover and set aside. They should stay plenty warm until everything is done.
- Assemble your sauce ingredients, and have a heatproof measuring cup ready to go.
- When the baking time is up, carefully pour the collected juices from the baking pan into the measuring cup. Top the liquid up with water to 200ml (or ¾ cup).
- Put the casserole back into the oven for another 10 minutes.
- Pour the cup into a small saucepan. You can measure out your cream in the same cup. Pour that into the pan too.
- Add in the seasononings. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat.
- While that heats, stir the cornstarch into the milk for your thickening. Turn the sauce heat down to barely simmering, and whisk in the milk and starch mixture to thicken.Adjust seasoning and consistency to your liking, with a little more milk and/or starch. Hold at a low simmer for a minute or so. We're looking for the slightly thinner side of a medium thickness here.
- When the casserole is done, let it rest out of the oven for 10-15 minutes before cutting and serving.
Serving
- Serve with the parsley potatoes, sauce, and a dollop of lingonberries on the side. Enjoy!
