Skip to main content
Main

Lentil Rolls

Lentil rolls are parcels of lentils, rice, and ham wrapped in cabbage or vine leaves, simmered in stock.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 15 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Cabbage and pepper are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,081 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Lentil Rolls

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the filling

  1. Boil the lentils and rice according to package instructions.

  2. Mix the ham, coriander seed, salt, and pepper together.

  3. Combine the rice and lentils with the ham mixture.

Roll the leaves

  1. Scald the vine or cabbage leaves.

  2. Shake the leaves dry.

  3. Place 2 tablespoons of the mixture in each leaf.

  4. Roll the leaf loosely.

  5. Fold in the ends.

  6. Tie the rolls with kitchen twine.

Stew and make the sauce

  1. Place the tied rolls in the bottom of a large saucepan.

  2. Cover the rolls with stock.

  3. Add the bay leaf.

  4. Add the onion slices.

  5. Add the mace.

  6. Cover the saucepan.

  7. Stew slowly for 45 minutes.

  8. Remove the rolls with a slotted spoon.

  9. Discard the twine.

  10. Arrange the rolls in a heated dish.

  11. Melt the butter in a saucepan.

  12. Add the flour to the melted butter.

  13. Mix until smooth.

  14. Gradually stir in the stock from cooking until thick and smooth.

  15. Remove the sauce from heat.

  16. Add the beaten egg yolk.

  17. Add the tarragon vinegar.

  18. Pour the sauce over the rolls.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Cabbage + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,081 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Lentils + coriandertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together273 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  3. Coriander + peppertop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,949 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  4. Rice + coriandertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,854 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-methoxy-4-vinylphenol (clove, smoky).

  5. Cabbage + oniontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,001 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Lentils
Provide the bulk and body of the filling, holding it together with the rice.
Rice
Absorbs liquid and softens, giving the filling a tender, cohesive texture.
Ham
Adds savoury, salty flavour to the filling.
Vine or cabbage leaves
Wrap the filling and hold its shape while the rolls stew.
Flour
Thickens the butter and stock into a smooth sauce.
Egg yolk
Enriches and thickens the sauce, giving it a smooth, rich body.

The step that matters

Gradually stir in the stock from cooking until thick and smooth. Adding stock slowly to the butter and flour roux lets starch granules disperse evenly, preventing lumps and giving a smooth, thickened sauce.

Swap the mace

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lentils, rice, ham, cabbage, coriander, pepper, onion):

  1. Turmericfits better
  2. Cuminfits better
  3. Garlicfits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against lentils, rice, ham, cabbage, coriander, pepper, onion. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

You might also like

Rice FrittersRice Fritters84 recipesRed CabbageRed Cabbage65 recipesStewed CabbageStewed Cabbage58 recipesBaked CabbageBaked Cabbage51 recipes