Kohlrabi again - Stuffed leaves with meat

I was telling you about my love, was I ? Well, you can find the story just here, in a previous post. So, now I must tell you about my second dish made with my love and...all turned on a mess after that. Ideas came and came, more and ..more. That's great also because kitchen isn't a just one way road. With simple things you can do magic and spells. I'm more than sure that, all those who read these words know what I'm talking about.
So...let make from my love a perfect queen again. 
This time, the kohlrabi leaves will be turned on few stuffed kohlrabi leaves or, as a well Romanian 'chef' which I am, let me call this dish sarma. About sarma made in cabbage leaves you can read here.


Ingredients:

For  filling:

1 ground breast chicken (pork meat is also fine)

salt, pepper, cumin, thyme, dill

1-2 tbs olive oil

1 chopped onion

150-200 gr soaked rice (in water but drain the water after that !)

1 egg 

For the final dish:

few slices of bacon (maybe 100 gr)

1 sliced tomatoe and  1 sliced pepper

4-5 tbs of passatta

well washed big kohlrabi leaves ( sometimes, I also use cabagge, vine or lime leaves; each has a specific flavor, you have to try! ) 

Preparation:

1. Leaves are scalding for a minute(maybe two) in salted water(with an extra amount of 1-2 tbs of vinegar too) then remove and place them in a colander to drain the excess of water. Cut the rib from the back of the leaves. 

2. Saute onion in olive oil, add rice, meat, egg and spices.Put a spoon of composition(filling) in the middle of leaves and pack them .

3. On the bottom of a pan put the bacon and the sliced tomatoe. Cover it with stuffed leaves. Over them sit peppers, passatta and few threads of thyme. Pour boiling water over all, as much as all be well covered . Add some salt. During the cooking process,if the liquid decreased, you can add an extra amount of boiling water .

4. Currently I use two caps to cover the pot.One with a smaller diameter than the pot will be placed directly over the stuffed leaves and the other one will cover the pot.Thus, what is in the pot will not tend to rise to the surface. (My grandmother also used a plate placed over the stuffed leaves.)

5. Boiling process will be a low heat process (on an open fire or into the oven) as long as it's necessary for the rice and the leaves to be well cooked .

You can serve this dish with a thick cream or a greek yogurt. That's more than perfect.

Romanian version:

frunze mari de gulie, spalate bine

1 piept de pui macinat (sau carne de porc)

sare,piper, chimin, cimbru, marar

1-2 l-ri de ulei de masline

1 ceapa tocata

150-200 gr orez inmuiat in apa

1 ou

1 rosie feliata

1 ardei feliat

citeva felii de bacon

4-5 l-ri de passatta sau de bulion gros

Ceapa este trasa la tigaie in ulei de masline. Se adauga orezul,carnea, oul si  condimentele.

Frunzele sunt oparite 1-2 minute in apa sarata si cu un adaus de otet (1-2 l-ri).Scurge-le. Taie cotorul gros de pe spatele frunzelor apoi umple-le cu compozitie, dindu-le forma de sarma sau impachetindu-le pur si simplu.

Pe fundul unei oale pune baconul. Acopera-l cu feliile de rosii si cu frunzele umplute. Peste ele aseaza ardeii feliati, bulionul sau passatta si citeva fire de cimbru.Toarna apa fierbinte in oala atit cit este necesar pentru a acoperi  totul. Se mai poate adauga apa in cursul procesului de fierbere daca lichidul a scazut prea mult.

De obicei eu folosesc 2 capace pentru a acoperi oala: unul mai mic care este asezat direct peste compozitie si unul care acopera oala in intregime. In felul acesta se previne ridicarea continutului oalei la suprafata. Se fierb frunzele umplute la foc mic(sau in cuptor) atit cit este necesar ca orezul si frunzele sa fie fierte bine.

Poti servi frunzele de gulii umplute cu o smintina groasa sau cu un iaurt grecesc care e mai mult decit perfect.

Enjoy!