Capuns – Swiss-Style Stuffed Cabbage Rolls

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Why does everything good end so quickly? I love weekends, even more so when those days are just for me and my family, when I can simply sit around and do nothing, or stay up until 5 a.m. with a book. Every Sunday evening I'm sorry that the weekend is ending. But it was a good one, calm and tasty.

Culinary-wise it was a good one, too. I made a delicious cake and some tasty dinners. Now I'm waiting for the next weekend so I can cook something delicious again. Today I wanted to show you one of my weekend dishes.

Capuns

Capuns are a sort of gołąbki (Polish stuffed cabbage rolls) that come from Switzerland. I call them gołąbki, although apart from the filling being wrapped in leaves, they don't have much in common. The recipe comes from Bea, who "brought" capuns back from her travels. It's worth reading what Bea writes about them.

I wrapped my capuns in Swiss chard leaves, but you can also use beet greens. I think grape leaves would work as well. Cabbage, on the other hand, might be too tough and too strong in flavor.

I filled them with Philadelphia-style cream cheese with herbs, but you can also use plain quark-style fresh cheese. Half of the filling also got cooked red lentils. The rolls turned out delicious and tender.

I blanched the chard stems, chopped them, mixed them with steamed broccoli and served them with yogurt sauce.

Capuns

Directions:

I'm quoting Bea here, but instead of Bündnerfleisch I used slices of dried ham, and instead of salzis – chorizo. You can also use salami, or skip the meat and replace it with, for example, smoked tofu.

Mix the flour with the beaten eggs and cream cheese, season lightly with salt and pepper and stir well for a few minutes, then set aside for about 30 minutes. Finely chop the shallot and the cured meats and sauté them in butter. Mix with the flour-and-cheese mixture. Add the lentils, if using.

Blanch the washed chard leaves without the stems and dry them thoroughly on a kitchen towel. Then put about a tablespoon of filling on each leaf and roll them up like traditional gołąbki. If you like, you can secure the leaves with a toothpick so they don't unroll during cooking.
Brown the finished capuns briefly on each side in hot fat, then pour in the broth and cream and simmer for about 5-10 minutes (a little longer if they're bigger). Then transfer them to a baking dish and place them in an oven preheated to 50-80°C (120-175°F); in the meantime, reduce the broth-and-cream sauce, adding 2/3 of the chopped chives as well.
Serve the capuns drizzled with the sauce and sprinkled with the remaining chives and pieces of sliced cured meat.

Enjoy!