Sarmale

Finely chop the onions and soften them in the oil, stir in 1 tablespoon of the tomato paste, and cool.

Chop the dill. Mix the pork with the onions, rice, half the dill, thyme, 1.5 tsp of the salt and black pepper.

Separate the leaves of the pickled cabbage, rinse them if very salty and cut out the thick rib. Cut large leaves in half.

Put a small spoonful of filling at the base of each leaf, roll up, and tuck the ends in firmly.

Heat the oven to 160°C. Cut the bacon into strips. Spread half the sauerkraut in a large casserole with some bacon, then pack in the rolls tightly in layers, tucking bacon, bay leaves and peppercorns between them.

Cover with the rest of the sauerkraut and bacon. Mix the tomato juice with the remaining 2 tbsp tomato paste and pour over, then add about 500 ml of the water, enough to just cover.

Cover and bake for 3 hours, until the rolls are meltingly soft and the pork is cooked through, 75°C in the centre. Rest for 15 minutes before serving, or better, cool, refrigerate overnight and reheat slowly in the pot.

Towards the end of the baking time, make the mămăligă, if using: bring the remaining 1.2 litres of water to the boil with 1 tsp of the salt, pour in the polenta in a thin stream, whisking, then cook over a low heat, stirring often, for 25 to 30 minutes until thick and pulling away from the pan.

Serve the sarmale with the sour cream, if using, the rest of the dill and the mămăligă.