Halupki

Are you hungry yet? =) Halupki, or my family's version of pigs in a blanket, is a ground meat and rice mixture wrapped in cabbage (savoy works well since the leaves are so large) and cooked in a simple tomato sauce. Oh my. The cabbage adds such a wonderful flavor to the sauce. The neat thing is that you can change the herbs and spices in the meat mixture. It's almost impossible to mess up!


I think I've made it clear that I have a strong Italian background, but I'm also lucky enough to be a mutt and have some Czech in my family as well! (And by mutt I mean Italian, Irish, English, Czech, Scotch, German--phew!) But the only 'cultural' foods in my family are Italian and Czech. Growing up, Halupki was pigs in a blanket for me. There was no other form. I once went to a friend's house and dinner was pigs in a blanket. I was so confused when it turned out to be a hot dog wrapped in a croissant roll with cheddar cheese!! I guess that was my introduction to the American take on pigs in a blanket.