Cabbage Rolls

So I said previously in two separate posts that I would make homemade cabbage rolls and I kept my promise!


I searched the internet for a recipe that I felt seemed hearty and traditional (as I know it) and I found this one on Smitten Kitchen. I followed it pretty much to the letter except for the fact that my parsnips had gone bad so I didn't add that, and I also added a wee bit of garlic powder for seasoning. 


I was surprised to see just how easy these are to make! I was also surprised to see how lovely they tasted when I was done! I was sure it was a great recipe, but I'm always sceptical of myself when I'm trying a recipe for the first time, and I always use Justin as a gauge of how well I've done. Well I definitely succeeded with this recipe! Justin ABSOLUTELY loved it! He said it reminded him of his grandma's cooking (even tho he's never ever had cabbage rolls before). 





So without further ado, here's the recipe!


Ingredients:


1 head Savoy cabbage
1 pound ground beef
1 small to medium onion, chopped small
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 carrot, shredded
1 celery stalk, thinly sliced
1 parsnip, shredded
1/2 cup uncooked rice
1 to 2 tablespoons tomato paste
3 to 4 cups of your favorite simple tomato sauce, tomato juice or V8
salt, pepper, garlic powder to season
baby new potatoes for the side (Skin on)


Method:

1) Cut the core out of the cabbage but leave it whole. Place it, with the empty core area facing up, in a large bowl. Boil a small pot of water and pour the water over the cabbage and let it sit for ten minutes. Chop/grate the carrot, parsnip, onion and celery finely. 

2) Heat the oil in a saute pan. Cook the onions until they are soft, add the carrot, celery and parsnip and saute them for a couple extra minutes — until they are also soft. Season the mixture with salt and pepper, transfer it to a bowl and let it cool a bit. 

3) Mix in the meat, rice and tomato paste and season again with garlic powder, salt and pepper. Drain the head of cabbage. 

4) Pull off large leaves, cut out the large vein — if the leaf is very large, you can make two rolls from each, if it is smaller, you can cut the vein out partially and pull the sides to overlap before you roll it into one roll. Pat the leaves dry with towels. Roll about 1/4 to 1/3 cup of filling in each leaf (depending on the size of your leaf) and arrange in a large, wide pot. 

Step 1 - Lay the leaf out flat and overlap the ends where you cut out the large vein

Step 2 - Place a spoonful of the meat mix on the overlapped end.

Step 3 - Roll the leaf over once, then tuck in the sides.

Step 4 - Continue to roll tightly.

How they should look.

5) Pour in enough juice or sauce to cover the rolls. Bring to a boil and reduce the heat, letting them simmer covered on the stove on low for about 45 minutes. Serve immediately. If sauce has thinned a bit, you can heat up any additional sauce you didn’t use and pour it over as you serve the rolls.

6) While that's cooking, put on your baby potatoes to boil, when they're down roughly crushed them and mix in some butter, salt, pepper and chives if you have any. 

How they look once cooked.

Dig in!

These turned out to be fantastic! Just how I remembered eating them when I was a child and very much like the ones made by our friends of the family. I can certainly suggest trying this recipe, although don't do like I did and make them on a hot summers day, my kitchen was like an overn! Maybe keep these for colder days because they will definitely warm you up from the inside out!


I hope you enjoy them as much as Justin and I did! This is a really hearty recipe and they also freeze really well so making a big batch is advisable!




Linked:

The Sweet Details
33 Shades of Green
This Chick Cooks