Old Fashioned Stuffed Cabbage Recipes

OLD-FASHIONED CABBAGE ROLLS

Steps:

• Cook cabbage in boiling water just until outer leaves pull away easily from head. Set aside 12 large leaves for rolls. In a small bowl, combine the beef, pork, 1/2 cup tomato sauce, onion, rice, parsley, salt, dill and cayenne; mix well., Cut out the thick vein from the bottom of each leaf, making a V-shaped cut. Place about 1/4 cup meat mixture on a cabbage leaf; overlap cut ends of leaf. Fold in sides. Beginning from the cut end, roll up. Repeat., Slice the remaining cabbage; place in a Dutch oven. Arrange the cabbage rolls seam side down over sliced cabbage. Combine the tomatoes, sugar and remaining tomato sauce; pour over the rolls. Cover and bake at 350° until cabbage rolls are tender, 1-1/2 hours.

STUFFED CABBAGE

Steps:

• For the sauce: In a large bowl, combine the crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, salt, red chili flakes (if using), brown sugar, and red wine vinegar. With a microplane, grate the clove of garlic into the sauce and stir well to combine. (Alternatively, you can very finely chop the garlic.)
• For the filling: Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cut out the core from the base of the cabbage and remove the 1-2 outer leaves. Place the cabbage cut side down into the pot of boiling water. As you see leaves naturally start to separate from the head of cabbage, gently coax the leaf off with a pair of tongs and transfer it to a colander set over a bowl. You will need about 14 cabbage leaves. This process takes about 6-8 minutes. Rinse the leaves with cold water until cool enough to handle. Drain well and pat dry with a clean kitchen towel.
• Place the cabbage leaves on a cutting board and make a V-shaped cut at the bottom of each leaf, to cut out the thickest part of the center rib.
• In a large bowl, combine the ground beef, pork, onion, egg, milk or cream, breadcrumbs, rice, parsley, salt and pepper. Mix gently to combine.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-inch-by-13-inch casserole dish. Ladle 1 cup of sauce into the dish and spread all over. Starting with the largest, outer cabbage leaves, lay each cabbage leaf flat. Take about 1/3 cup of filling and roughly shape it into an oval shape, about 4-inches long. (For some of the larger leaves, use up to ½ cup of filling.) Place the oval in the center a cabbage leaf, just above where the rib was cut. Fold the sides of the cabbage leaf over the filling and roll up into a little bundle (start rolling at the cut side, over into the uncut side). Place seam side down over top of the sauce in the baking dish. Repeat until each cabbage leaf is used. Drizzle the remainder of the sauce all over.
• Cover tightly with foil and bake for 1 hour and 30 minutes, until the meat is cooked through. Serve with a side of mashed potatoes, if you like.

STUFFED CABBAGE

Steps:

• For the sauce, heat the olive oil in a large saucepan, add the onions, and cook over medium-low heat for 8 minutes, until the onions are translucent. Add the tomatoes, vinegar, brown sugar, raisins, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Set aside.
• Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil.
• Remove the entire core of the cabbage with a paring knife. Immerse the head of cabbage in the boiling water for a few minutes, peeling off each leaf with tongs as soon as it s flexible. Set the leaves aside. Depending on the size of each leaf, you will need at least 14 leaves.
• For the filling, in a large bowl, combine the ground chuck, eggs, onion, breadcrumbs, rice, thyme, salt, and pepper. Add 1 cup of the sauce to the meat mixture and mix lightly with a fork.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• To assemble, place 1 cup of the sauce in the bottom of a large Dutch oven. Remove the hard triangular rib from the base of each cabbage leaf with a small paring knife. Place 1/3 to 1/2 cup of filling in an oval shape near the rib edge of each leaf and roll up toward the outer edge, tucking the sides in as you roll. Place half the cabbage rolls, seam sides down, over the sauce. Add more sauce and more cabbage rolls alternately until you ve placed all the cabbage rolls in the pot. Pour the remaining sauce over the cabbage rolls. Cover the dish tightly with the lid and bake for 1 hour or until the meat is cooked and the rice is tender. Serve hot.

MOM'S CLASSIC STUFFED CABBAGE ROLLS

Steps:

• Remove core from cabbage. Place whole head in a large pot filled with boiling, salted water. Cover and cook 3 minutes, or until softened enough to pull off individual leaves. If the leaves do not pull off easily, return the cabbage to the pot to boil a minute or two more. When the leaves are cool enough, use a paring knife to cut away the thick center stem from each leaf, without cutting all the way through.
• In a large bowl, add in the ground beef, pork, rice, onion, garlic, salt, pepper, eggs, ketchup, tomato paste, and parsley. Mix gently to combine. Add in 2/3rd of a can of tomato soup (almost 3/4 of a cup) and mix.
• To stuff the leaves lay down a single large leaf with the cut edge facing you (where the stem was) and place about a 1/2 cup of the meat mixture in the lower third of the leave. If the leaf is huge add more, if smaller add less meat. Fold the sides of the leaf over the meat and roll the cabbage up (like rolling a burrito). Repeat until all of the leaves are stuffed. If you have extra meat just roll it up as meatballs and place it in the baking pan with the stuffed cabbage.
• Preheat oven to 350F, rack in the center.
• In a large deep dish (4" at least) baking pan (or two 9×13" glass pans), spread out the remaining soup from the open can on the bottom of the pan. Open up a 2nd can and pour out 1/2 of it and spread out until the bottom of the pan in covered in a light coating.
• Place a single layer of stuffed cabbages on the bottom of your pan. Add the remaining half of the 2nd can of tomato soup. If you have leaves that are too small to stuff or are badly torn, add them on top of the soup.
• Add the 2nd layer of stuffed cabbage (you must make sure you have a 1/2" gap at the top of your pan and stuffed cabbage. It cannot go over the top of the pan. Top with the remaining can of tomato soup and spread out evenly.
• Spray the underneath of a large piece of foil. Place foil side down on the pan and close tightly around the dish. Place the pan on a larger cookie sheet to catch any spillovers.
• Bake for 3 - 4 hours or until the cabbage is tender when pierced with a knife. (I start to check mine after 2 hours 45 minutes).
• Remove from the oven, uncover and allow to cool for 15 minutes before serving.