Slow Cooker Kohlrouladen

I recently visited Germany which gave me the taste for German food. So I tried making Kohlrouladen in slow cooker and they turned out amazing. Pics are after I’d prepped, sadly I forgot to take any after cooking pics as was too eager to consume. The meatballs aren’t in the recipe – I just added these as extra as had left over filling. Not really an easy throw it in and forget recipe, but I like stretching what a slow cooker can produce haha. I made some potato dumplings to go with these which weren’t as great, but mashed potatoes or new potatoes or bread work well too, and veg.

Ingredients:

For the rolls:

12 large savoy cabbage leaves
375 g beef mince
300 g pork mince
90 g uncooked medium/short-grain rice (rinsed)
150 g onion, finely chopped
1½ tsp garlic paste
1 large egg
¾ tsp dried marjoram
¾ tsp caraway seeds
1½ tsp paprika
¾ tsp salt
¾ tsp black pepper
12 rashers unsmoked streaky bacon

For the sauce:

120 g onion, thinly sliced into half-moons
300 g chopped tomatoes
1½ tbsp tomato puree
250 ml beef stock
75 ml dry red wine
1½ tsp paprika
1½ tsp Dijon mustard
1 bay leaf
1½ tsp red wine vinegar (added at end)

Method:

1. Boil the cabbage leaves for 2–3 minutes until slightly floppy and movable. Pat dry and trim thick ribs flat to make rolling easier.

2. Mix the beef, pork, rice, onion, garlic paste, egg, marjoram, caraway, paprika, salt, and pepper together. Mix thoroughly until evenly combined.

3. Make the rolls using around 55g–60 g filling per leaf. Roll from stem to tip, tucking in sides as you go. Then wrap each roll with 1 rasher of bacon and place seam-side down.

4. Scatter the sliced onion in the base of the slow cooker. Place the rolls in a single layer on top or stack loosely if slow cooker not large enough. Any left over filling can be made into balls and placed in there too.

5. Mix chopped tomatoes, tomato purée, stock, wine, paprika, mustard, and bay leaf and pour evenly over the rolls.

6. Cook for 7–8 hours on low.

7. Lift out rolls and keep warm. Stir the red wine vinegar into the sauce. Thicken with a slurry of 1 tbsp cornflour and 2 tbsp cold water. Turn slow cooker to high for 5–10 minutes.

8. Serve rolls with sauce poured over and your choice of sides.