Sauce for cabbage rolls without sour cream and garlic
4 servings
30 minutes
This cabbage roll sauce without sour cream and garlic is a true ode to natural flavor. Its history traces back to traditional European cuisines where vegetables and spices created vibrant sauces for meat and vegetable dishes. Here, tomatoes form the base of rich taste: some are added fresh while others are turned into a velvety puree. Onion and carrot add sweetness and depth, while spices including allspice and black pepper enrich the aroma. This sauce beautifully enhances the flavor of cabbage rolls, making them juicy and rich. Without sour cream, the sauce retains lightness, allowing enjoyment of the natural notes of vegetables and spices. This version is perfect for those who prefer freshness and purity of taste without excess creamy texture.
1
Chop the onion medium or large, grate the carrot on a coarse grater, slice 3 peeled tomatoes into rounds, and blend 4 tomatoes with skin (including the 3 peeled ones).
- Onion: 1 head
- Tomatoes: 7 pieces
- Carrot: 1 piece
- Tomatoes: 7 pieces
2
Heat a bit more oil than needed for frying in a pan. Add onion to the pan and sauté under a lid until transparent, then add spices (any pepper mixes, 3 bay leaves), sauté the onion with spices for 1 minute, then add pre-grated carrot, then diced tomatoes (3 peeled). When the tomatoes 'wilt', add blended tomatoes (4 tomatoes with skin, can include skin from the previous 3 - blended to juice), now salt this mixture well. Add pepper again (this time ground, not whole). Bring to a boil over low or medium heat, reduce heat to minimum and simmer the 'sauce' for another 5 minutes.
- Vegetable oil: 3 tablespoons
- Onion: 1 head
- Black peppercorns: 7 pieces
- Allspice peas: 5 piece
- Bay leaf: 3 pieces
- Carrot: 1 piece
- Tomatoes: 7 pieces
- Tomatoes: 7 pieces
- Salt: to taste
3
Pour water over the cabbage rolls and simmer them for 40 minutes to 1.5 hours, placing cabbage leaves at the bottom of the pan (they will burn a little anyway).
- Bay leaf: 3 pieces