A healthy and delicious twist on traditional Moldovan sarmale, perfect for vegans. This recipe preserves authentic flavors, replacing meat and animal products with vegetables, grains, and plant-based protein.
A healthy and delicious reinterpretation of traditional Moldovan sarmalas, perfect for vegans. This recipe preserves the authentic flavors, replacing meat and animal products with vegetables, grains, and plant-based protein.
Servings: 8Preparation time: 4 hours and 30 minutes
Ingredients 200 g rice
150 g red lentils or cooked chickpeas
4 carrots
4 parsnip roots
3 onions
1 bunch of parsley
500 ml tomato juice
20 sour cabbage leaves
15 vine leaves
2-3 tablespoons vegetable oil
Seasonings: pepper, thyme, sweet paprika, salt
1 cup sweet or semi-sweet wine
Optional: a few slices of smoked tofu or tempeh for extra flavor
Preparation method Preparing the filling:Clean and wash the vegetables. Finely chop the onion and grate the carrot and parsnip. Sauté the onion, carrot, and parsnip in heated oil until softened. Add the washed rice, boiled lentils or chickpeas, and chopped parsley. Pour 200 ml tomato juice and season to taste. Boil the mixture until the sauce reduces and homogenizes.
Finally, turn off the heat and let the filling cool.
Forming the sarmalas:Place a tablespoon of filling on each cabbage leaf or vine leaf and roll up the sarmalas. Arrange them in a pot, cover with hot water, and boil for 30-40 minutes.
Preparation in pumpkin:Wash the pumpkin, cut off the lid, and remove part of the pulp, transforming it into an "oven". Remove the half-cooked sarmalas and arrange them in layers inside the pumpkin, sprinkling with a little thyme and, if desired, slices of smoked tofu. Drizzle with the remaining tomato juice and wine, completing with water to cover them.
Baking:Place the pumpkin in a baking tray, cover it with the lid, and put it in the oven at low heat for about 3 hours.
Serving:Serve the vegan sarmalas with a vegetable yogurt sauce or vegan sour cream for a complete experience.
About the author
Alexandru RobeaPassionate about linguistics, cat person. He who gives (helps) quickly gives twice; he who delays gives nothing. Let us try to distinguish between the infinite possibilities of dreams and the restrictive demands of the real world.
