I asked my Hungarian mother about this a few years ago when someone else inquired about it. My mom HATED it as a kid, so she never learned how to make it, but when I sent her this recipe, she thought it sounded like it produce the same end result that she remembered.....

This recipe comes to me by way of Chef Gale Gand, co-owner of Tru Restaurant in Chicago.

"This is my Hungarian Grandma Elsie's recipe. They were so poor they couldn't afford apples for their apple strudel so she just seasoned up cabbage with enough sugar so it tasted like apples."

I've had savory cabbage strudel before, but this was a new one on me. What a clever cook Gale's Grandma Elsie was! Everyone in my family raves about it. We call it Poor Man's Apple Strudel!

View this Step By Step.

Makes 8 servings of Hungarian Sweet Cabbage strudel

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 50 minutesIngredients:
ÂFor Filling:
Â1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
Â1/2 head green cabbage, shredded
Â1/4 teaspoon salt
Â1/2 cup sugar
Â1/2 cup dark or light raisins
Â1/4 cup walnut pieces, toasted
Â.
ÂFor Pastry:
Â3 sheets filo dough, thawed
Â1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
Â1/2 cup sugar
Â1 cup toasted walnuts, finely chopped
Preparation:
1.For the filling: In a large skillet, melt butter. Add cabbage and saute until tender. Add salt and sugar and stir to dissolve.

2.Add raisins and cook a few minutes to reduce and thicken any juices. Stir in 1/4 cup toasted walnuts. Spread on a parchment-lined sheet pan to cool completely.

3.To assemble the strudel: Heat oven to 375 degrees. Place 1 sheet filo dough on a parchment-lined baking pan. Brush with butter. Sprinkle with 1/3 sugar and 1/3 finely chopped walnuts. Place 1 sheet filo dough on top of the filling, brush with butter and sprinkle with 1/3 sugar and 1/3 finely chopped walnuts. Place remaining 1 sheet filo dough on top of filling and brush with butter. Reserve any remaining butter and last 1/3 sugar and walnuts for the top.

4.Turn the pan so short end of filo is closest to your body. Spread cooled cabbage filling 2 inches from top and sides, but all the way to the edge closest to you.

5.Using the parchment paper to help you lift, roll the strudel away from you, encasing the filling and forming a cylinder. Move the strudel, seam side down, to the center of the parchment paper and tuck in the strudel ends.

6.Brush entire surface with remaining melted butter, sugar and walnuts. Bake until golden brown, about 30 minutes. Let cool 15 minutes on the pan.

7.Using a serrated knife, carefully cut into 8 pieces and serve warm. Garnish with an edible flower, if desired, whipped cream, or a sprinkle of confectioners' sugar.

Thanks Alexa. I thought it sounded interesting and I was intrigued. The savory one sounds better to me than the other, but I think I would want to add onions to it! It's probably one of those things you either love or not, and only have to make once. I guess I missed it the first time someone inquired.

I made something like this from the Moosewood cookbook. It had onions and caraway seeds, carrots, mushrooms, dill, cheese, eggs, phyllo, etc

If you are interested, I'll type it out..

Eileen, I have the Moosewood cookbook, and will check it out. Thanks!

Claire, it's the New Recipes one, not the original.

Well, sure then, Eileen, I'd love the recipe. I guess I don't have the New Recipes from Moosewood. Have you made it before?

I might make the Moosewood version too. I have a new honey who is eastern european (Czech, which is close enough to Hungary) and he might like this, he loves cabbage!

Yes, I've made it. It is good. Savory and makes a lot. I'll type it out soon! I am a slow typist.

Thank you for bringing up this subject. My grandparents are Hungarian and I only wish that I had my grandma's recipes. But then again, she really didn't have "recipes", but did everything from taste and feel. She made the best poppy seed, cottage cheese with raisins, and nut strudels and made her own pastry. I remember watching her stretch it out on a cloth laid over her kichen table until it was paper thin.

I really don't recall if she made cabbage strudel though. But I absolutely loved the cabbage noodles that she made. Probably a similar taste, and she made her own noodles too. The cabbage is shred and sauteed in butter until very limp and browned. It takes on a whole different flavor - somewhat sweet and savory at the same time - so that is probably how the cabbage strudel tastes.

She also made poppy seed noodles and bread crumb dumplings that were served drizzled with honey. The bread crumbs were sauteed in butter until browned and crisp. And I remember she always ground the poppy seeds before using them to bake and cook with.

Blizlady, you're making me want to try your family dishes! You don't have any recipes? Are you able to duplicate any of her recipes? It sounds like cabbage noodles just might be amazing! The only thing I make that are even close are Bierocks, but those have onions and ground beef. I can just imagine what you're talking about though, and wish I knew where to go try some.

Claire, my mother used to make Kaposzta Teszta (cabbage with noodles) too and it was one of my favorite dishes. She would saute a chopped large onion in bacon fat, then add the finely shredded cabbage and cook it, covered, over medium until the cabbage was very soft and slightly golden. Then she would add a lot of ground peppers, and a tiny bit of sugar and stir in the wide egg noodles. Sometimes whe would add a bit of crumbled bacon at the end, other times it was just the noodles and cabbage.

She also made her stuffed cabbage with a creamy paprikash (sour cream and paprika and onion) type sauce rather than the sweet & sour vinegar and brown sugar type stuff. I like both a lot, but she always prefered the creamy one.

Then there was a layered casserole sort of thing where she layered kolbasz with noodles, sauerkraut and paprika and topped the whole thing with a thinned sour cream.

It really is amazing how creative the Hungarians are with cabbage.....

Alexa

Hi L - I'm glad you have a new honey!

Alexa, that makes perfect sense to add onions, and bacon, and the sour cream and paprika with egg noodles! I think I'm going to Google some recipes and try this very soon. After visiting a huge Asian Superstore today that was new to me today, I noticed the cabbage immediately in the produce aisle...

Woodie, Hi! (Hand waving!) Who is L, and her new honey?

Well Claire, the power of suggestion is strong. LOL! I picked up a kielbasa and am going to make the layered sauerkraut casserole for dinner in the next day or two. It has been a long time since I have had it and the memories triggered a strong craving!

Alexa

Alexa, please come back and tell me how it turned out. I think I'm making it very soon as well...