Salsichas Frescas em Couve Lombarda is a traditional Portuguese dish that’s made with pork sausages wrapped in savoy cabbage and braised in a rich tomato sauce. It’s the ultimate Portuguese comfort food, packed with flavour, and perfect for the colder months. Keep reading if you’d like to learn how to make it the authentic way!
Sausages in Savoy Cabbage – The Ultimate Portuguese Comfort Food
Whenever I share recipes like this, my comment session gets flooded with nostalgic messages from people that miss the foods they grew up eating. Someone even told me they hadn’t had this dish since their grandma passed away, and that I inspired them to prepare it for the first time. Either if you were lucky enough to have a Portuguese grandma and would like to go back in time, or if you simply want to try an authentic Portuguese home cooked meal, you should give this recipe a try!
Stuffed Cabbage Rolls – A Version for Almost Every Country in Europe
Almost every European country has a version of stuffed cabbage rolls. They are a staple of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern European cuisines, and can be stuffed with a variety of fillings, usually minced meat, either beef, pork, or lamb, mixed with rice or barley. Although you will also find vegetarian versions where the minced meat is replaced with ground nuts and dried fruits. It appears in the cuisines of Hungary, Poland, Germany, Romania, and even France. It’s difficult to pinpoint where the concept first originated and how it became such a cherished Portuguese dish. What I can say with certainty is that’s a delicious dish that’s nourishing and super easy to prepare, win-win situation.
Ingredients for Making Salsichas em Couve Lombarda
As it’s the case with most traditional Portuguese dishes, you will find that there are several slightly different ways to prepare this dish. While there’s a consensus on the type of cabbage and the style of sausages, when it comes to the tomato sauce, it seems that there’s a little more room for creativity. Some people like to include bacon or chouriço, others prefer a smoother sauce made with passata instead of fresh tomatoes.
I prefer a chunkier sauce which I make with diced onions and carrots, bacon, minced garlic, olive oil, chopped tomatoes, tomato concentrate, chicken stock, and white wine. To season, you will need a bay leaf, a couple of cloves, chili flakes, salt and pepper. The remaining ingredients are your savoy cabbage and the sausages, or as they’re called in Portugal, salsichas frescas – fresh sausages as opposed to cured spicy sausages like chouriço.
How to Make Authentic Portuguese Stuffed Cabbage Rolls
To make this traditional Portuguese dish we first dice 2 medium onions, 2 small carrots, and mince 5 garlic cloves. To a wok or shallow casserole, we add about 75g of bacon cubes, and cook over medium heat until the bacon releases plenty of oil and it’s starting to crisp up. Toss in the diced onions and carrots, and about two tablespoons of olive oil. Sauté for about 5 minutes or until the onions go translucent. Add in the 5 minced garlic cloves, cook for another minute or until fragrant.
Next, add 1 can of chopped tomatoes (about 400g), 2 tbsp of tomato concentrate, 2 bay leaves, 1tsp of chili flakes, and 5 cloves, stir well to combine. Season with salt and pepper, cook for another 5 minutes. Now add in a splash of white wine and 2 cups of chicken stock (about 500ml), let the alcohol evaporate for a minute, then cover with the lid. Reduce the heat to medium low, let the sauce simmer for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, prepare the cabbage. The amount of leaves should match the amount of sausages you have. Separate and sanitise the leaves, then blanch them for 2 minutes in hot salt water. Dab the blanch cabbage with kitchen paper. To assemble the rolls, place the sausage on top of the cabbage near the base of the stem. Fold the bottom of the leaf over the sausage, tuck in the sides like a parcel, then roll it again twice to seal. Repeat the process with the remaining sausages.
Check on your sauce, if it’s reduced too much, add another splash of white wine. Season with more salt and pepper to taste. Layer the rolls on the sauce, cover with the lid, let it steam for 15 minutes to cook the sausages. There you have it! Enjoy your rolls with rice or a crusty bread.
How to Make Authentic Portuguese Sausages in Savoy Cabbage
Salsichas em Couve-Lombarda – Authentic Portuguese Stuffed Cabbage Rolls
4
servings25
minutes35
minutes743
kcalSalsichas Frescas em Couve Lombarda is a traditional Portuguese dish that’s made with pork sausages wrapped in savoy cabbage and braised in a rich tomato sauce.
Ingredients
8 Pork Sausages
1 Small Savoy Cabbage
75 g Bacon Cubes
2 Medium Onions – diced
2 Small Carrots – diced
5 Garlic Cloves – minced
2 tbsp Olive Oil
1 can Chopped Tomatoes (400g)
2 tbsp Tomato Concentrate
2 cups Chicken Stock (500ml)
1 Splash of White Wine
2 Bay Leaves
5 Cloves – whole
1 tsp Red Chili Flakes
Salt – to taste
Pepper – to taste
Directions
- Place a shallow casserole over medium heat. Add in about 75g of bacon cubes. Fry for about 5 minutes or until it releases plenty of oil and starts to crisp up.
- Dice 2 medium onions and 2 small carrots. Add them to the pan too with the 2tbsp of olive oil. Sauté for another 5 minutes or until the onions go translucent.
- Add in the minced 5 garlic cloves, cook for another minute or until fragrant.
- Next, add 1 can of chopped tomatoes (about 400g), 2 tbsp of tomato concentrate, 2 bay leaves, 1tsp of chili flakes, and 5 whole cloves, stir well to combine. Season with salt and pepper, cook for another 5 minutes.
- Add in a splash of white wine, and 2 cups of chicken stock (about 500ml), let the alcohol evaporate for a minute, then cover with the lid.
- Reduce the heat to medium low, let the sauce simmer for 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, prepare the cabbage. Separate and sanitise the leaves, then blanch them for 2 minutes in hot salt water. Dab the blanch cabbage with kitchen paper.
- To assemble the rolls, place the sausage on top of the cabbage near the base of the stem. Fold the bottom of the leaf over the sausage, tuck in the sides like a parcel, then roll it again twice to seal. Repeat the process with the remaining sausages.
- Check on your sauce, if it’s reduced too much, add another splash of white wine. Season with more salt and pepper to taste.
- Layer the rolls on the sauce, cover with the lid, let it steam for 15 minutes to cook the sausages. Enjoy with white rice or bread!
Recipe Video
Notes
- The bacon can be omitted or swapped with chouriço or any other spicy sausage of your choice.
- The amount of cabbage leaves should match the amount of sausages you have. My sausages were on the smaller size, so I picked a small cabbage too.
Have you tried my recipe? Let me know in the comments!