Polish Cabbage with Mushrooms {Kapusta z Grzybami}

Anna

7 years ago

72 / 100

Cabbage with Mushrooms {Kapusta z grzybami}

Kapusta z Grzybami [kah-poos-tah z gshi-bah-mee] is a vegetarian version of bigos, by Poles often called “bigos jarski”. It is prepared with both fresh cabbage and sauerkraut, dried wild mushrooms and fresh mushrooms and spices. It’s tangy and aromatic, and fills my kitchen with smells of the home I grew up in. I love sauerkraut dishes and I’ve been craving cabbage for the past few days, so I’m making some of my favorite dishes this week (ate pierogi twice this week 🙂 )

Cabbage with Mushrooms {Kapusta z Grzybami}

Yields: 5-6 servings
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 1.5 hours

Ingredients

About 1 c / 20 g of dried mushrooms
½ head of a medium cabbage
3 bay leaves
6 whole peppercorns and allspice berries (each)
1 tsp salt
One 14 oz / 500 g can of sauerkraut
16-20 oz / 500-700 g of baby bellas / button mushrooms
3 tbsp of butter
1 large onion, chopped
2 tbsp of tomato paste

Instructions

Place dried mushrooms in a small pot, add enough boiling water to cover, set aside until mushrooms rehydrate a bit (about 10-15 minutes).
In the meantime, shred cabbage and cut into smaller pieces. Place in a large pot with 1 ½ cups / 350 milliliters of water, bay leaves, peppercorns, allspice berries, and salt. Boil on medium heat until cabbage softens (only about 5 minutes). Add sauerkraut (I don't drain my sauerkraut, nor do I rinse it. If you like your kraut a bit milder, rinse and drain it before this step). Continue cooking on medium-low.
Clean and slice button mushrooms. Sauté in butter until golden brown around the edges, then add them to the cabbage mixture. Sauté chopped onion (add a bit more butter if needed), and also add to the pot.
After dried mushrooms rehydrate, boil for about 10 minutes on low (check if they're soft; if not, boil for a bit longer. Add more water if needed). When mushrooms are soft, dump the water from boiling them into the cabbage mixture. Chop wild mushrooms and also add to the cabbage.
Add tomato paste and continue cooking for a total cooking time of about 1 hour. Turn off and set aside to cool. Best if cooked again the next day. Refrigerate overnight. Next day, cook for another hour and a half or so, stirring occasionally.

For meat-eaters out there, try a recipe for Bigos {Hunter’s Stew}, similar cabbage and sauerkraut dish with addition of variety of meats.

Happy cooking!

Anna

*if you don’t have a Polish or Italian grocery in your area, you can purchase dried mushrooms online, I get mine here. I like this particular blend, as it has some wild mushrooms in it, not only shiitake and oysters. A large container like this will last me about 6 months. If you’re going to be doing more Polish cooking, I recommend getting a large container like this. Use them to make aromatic, fall mushroom soup, mushroom souce to be served with dumplings, or addition to stews and soups.