I am not a big eater of veal. I never cook it, and hardly ever eat it. But one Friday night, my mom decided she wanted a rubut, so I took on the challenge. Some of you may be thinking “WHAT?” and I”ll explain to you what this crazy dish is. Basically you take a piece of veal and cut a slit in the center so that you can stuff it (we Syrians love stuffing our food!). The veal is stuffed with hashu, a mixture of meat and rice, and cooked with either more hashu around it or some vegetables. Fava beans are classic, and many people make it with mushrooms, but I like to make it with peas. And add some hashu balls in the peas just for some extra meatiness (meat stuffed with meat with some meat around it…a well-rounded meal).
The first step of this recipe is finding a veal pocket. Around me, that’s easy. If you don’t live amongst Syrians, ask your butcher to bone a breast or neck of veal and slit it to form a stuffable pocket.
There is really no way to measure the spices for this. it depends on how big the veal roast is. Make sure to put a lot. This is a big dish – great for any Shabbat or holiday. It can be the full meal or you can make a bunch of other things to go with it, though this is, obviously, the star!
Rubut, adapted from Deal Delights
Ingredients:
- 3-4 pound veal pocket
- 1 pound hashu (divided)
- Kosher salt
- Black Pepper
- Allspice
- Garlic powder
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 10-ounce boxes of frozen peas
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Loosely stuff veal pocket with 3/4 of the filling and close with kitchen twine or toothpicks.
3. Coat with the oil and then season liberally with salt, pepper, all spice, and garlic powder.
4. Cut 3 slits through thick part of the pocket, against the grain.
5. Place in roaster or dutch oven, slit sides down. Cover.
6. Place in oven until the veal lets out some juice, about 30 minutes.
7. Lower oven to 250 degrees and add 1/2 cup of water. Let cook covered for one hour, basting occasionally.
8. While cooking, make hashu balls with remaining hashu mixture.
9. Remove from oven and add peas and hashu around the veal pocket. Season the peas with more salt, pepper, allspice, and garlic powder.
10. Cook for another 2 hours, until meat is soft and vegetables are juicy.
