Traditional Greek Stuffed Cabbage Rolls Lahanodolmades Recipes

TRADITIONAL GREEK STUFFED CABBAGE ROLLS (LAHANODOLMADES)

Steps:

• Prepare the rice mixture: Mix together the rice, ground beef, onion, spring onions, carrot, olive oil, parsley, dill, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for half an hour.
• Bring a large pot of water to a boil and stir in a teaspoon of salt.
• Remove the entire core of the cabbage using a sharp pairing knife. Immerse the cabbage in the boiling water, cored side down. The water should be almost to the top of the cabbage. Continue cooking over medium-low heat for about 15 minutes, or, until the leaves can be easily separated (Note: If you use Savoy cabbage the cooking time is much shorter, at just under 5 minutes). Using tongs, carefully remove each leaf from the pot, as soon as they become soft and flexible, and place them on a drainer to cool. Set aside and reserve any hard, torn, or very small leaves to line the bottom of your pot later.
• To assemble the cabbage rolls: place a cabbage leaf on a work surface. Place a tablespoon of the filling (the size of a walnut) near the bottom of the leaf. If necessary, cut into the leaf's stem (in a V shape) to remove the hard and thick spine. This will make them easier to roll. Fold the bottom end up and over the filling, then fold the two side ends of the cabbage leaf towards the center. Roll the leaf up to enclose the mixture, making sure not to roll it too tight because the rice filling will expand while it cooks. For the leaves that are a bit too small, you can overlap two of them to form a larger leaf before filling, or, you can also patch up any tears the leaves might have. For the leaves that are too large, cut them in half along the hard stem.
• To layer the cabbage rolls: line the bottom of the pot with those reserved leaves that were too hard or too small to fill. This will protect the stuffed cabbage rolls from over browning. Arrange the rolls seam side down in the pot. Make sure they are placed snuggly against each other so they do not move during cooking. Repeat with a second layer of rolls. Top with more of the leftover harder cabbage leaves, if you have them.
• To cook: Pour the stock and water over them, season with salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Cover the top of the stuffed cabbage rolls with an inverted, heatproof, shallow plate or bowl. The plate should be large enough that it covers the rolls, but small enough to not touch the sides of the pot. This will keep the rolls in place while cooking and will ensure that they cook properly. Reduce the heat to a medium-low and simmer for about 45-50 minutes. Check to make sure the rice is tender. Turn off the heat and uncover the pot.
• Make the avgolemono sauce: Whisk the eggs very well until frothy; for best results, use a hand-held mixer. Add the lemon juice and the cornstarch and whisk again. Start "tempering" the eggs by adding a ladle of hot liquid from the pot to the bowl while whisking constantly. Add one more ladle and whisk again until combined. Stir in the egg-lemon broth into the pot, shaking the pan to distribute evenly. Bring to a very gentle simmer over medium-low heat for just a minute or so, making sure it does not come to a boil. Remove from the heat. Taste and adjust the broth for seasoning.
• To serve: arrange the rolls on individual serving plates and then top them with the frothy hot sauce (do not drown them). Garnish with lemon slices, fresh dill and some freshly ground pepper.

LAHANODOLMATHES (GREEK CABBAGE ROLLS)

Steps:

• Combine the ground meats with the 3 tblsps olive oil, rice, onion, parlsey, celery, carrot, tomato paste, garlic and spearmint. Season with salt and pepper. Knead well to combine everything.
• Place cabbage in a large pot of boiling water and cover pot.
• When the outer leaves are blanched and softened, remove leaf by leaf, keeping the leaves whole, and place flat on a towel on work surface.
• Continue in this way, removing leaves as they become blanched and soft.
• Take some leaves that have not removed in one piece (the worse looking ones, or chop up some cabbage) and put in the bottom of a large pot.
• Take a cabbage leaf and place 2 tblsps of meat filling in the center.
• Fold both sides in and start rolling up, away from you, to make a cylinder, like an egg-roll or cigar. Do this rather loosely to allow for expansion of the meat and rice as it cooks. Lay these neatly in your pot, packing them in next to one another so they hold their shape.
• Continue rolling cabbage leaves until all your filling has been used up and/or you run out of leaves.
• Put more torn cabbage leaves or chopped up cabbage over the cabbage rolls.
• Pour over olive oil, add stock cubes and add enough hot water to just cover the cabbage rolls by ½".
• Weight the cabbage rolls with a plate and bring to the boil (the plate keeps the rolls from moving around too much as they cook, so that they don't unroll).
• Cook for just over an hour.
• Remove from heat.
• Carefully remove cabbage rolls to serving dish and make your sauce using the liquid remaining in pot.
• Beat the eggs with the corn flour and lemon juice.
• Very carefully and very slowly and whisking all the time, start to dribble the hot stock into the egg mixture. Keep doing this until you've added nearly all the stock. This tempers your eggs so that your sauce won't curdle.
• Pour the sauce back into the pot, and cook until the sauce just starts to simmer.
• Remove from heat and serve with the cabbage rolls coated generously with this sauce.
• Another recipe that goes so well eaten with nibbles of feta cheese and crusty bread (as all Greek recipes seem to).