Pigs in a blanket aka stuffed cabbage aka toltott kaposzta

You think you know what pigs in a blanket are? Do you think they are little smokies wrapped and baked in crescent roll dough? Delicious but not the same thing in Alliance, Ohio where people know cabbage rolls as pigs in a blanket.

ingredients ready to assemble

I was unaware that this was a regional thing until I moved away. The first time I told my husband Brett we were going to my mom’s house for a pigs in a blanket dinner he thought she was making little smokies. I guess most people don’t know Alliance-speak.

pigs ready to roll

Growing up in a Hungarian- American home, stuffed cabbage, known as toltott kaposzta by Hungarians, was on the rotation of Hungarian dishes on our dinner table. Most people know it as a New Year’s Eve or Day food. Not so for Hungarians, it was served throughout the year. It was on the menu of the annual Alliance Hungarian picnic and many church dinners.

$5 toltott kaposzta @ Budapest Great Market Hall

I had the opportunity to sample toltott kaposzta in Hungary several times. The best was a humongous stuffed cabbage at Budapest’s Great Market Hall. The taste was spot on to my grandmother’s recipe. Recipes are passed down through generations. That is the case with my grandmother’s toltott kaposzta.

cabbage rolls ready to bake

Many years back, I came across the recipe below. Sorry Grandma Bilcze, this recipe is the best. It takes more prep time and is a little more complex. It is worth the time. The aroma of toltott kaposzta baking brings back memories of those Hungarian women rolling the “pigs” in the Hungarian Presbyterian Church basement for a church dinner or picnic.

Happy New Year!
Boldog új évet!

Click on recipe card for printer ready document
Click on recipe card for printer ready document
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1 Comment

  1. Greg Veal January 1, 2019 at 1:44 pm

    1) Let’s go to Tony Packo’s on Thursday, June 20th!

    2) I grew up in Cleveland knowing what pigs-in-a-blanket are. They were a common offering at weddings, church pot lucks, etc. Of course, Cleveland (and Parma) is pretty ethnic. So I asked Eileen what I’d need to get at the grocery if we wanted to make pigs-in-a-blanket. She said, ” a head of cabbage and some ground beef”. So I’m not so sure it’s an alliance or strictly Hungarian thing. I think maybe the “other” kind is a Brett thing! ☺

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