Cabbage Rolls

I have made cabbage rolls before, but like I have said in previous posts my mom always finds the best recipes (and is the best cook)! She made these cabbage rolls for our rehearsal dinner and they were a hit!! I decided to give them a try tonight! There is a decent amount of “prep” work but they weren’t overly exhausting! This recipe is from Canadian Living. I forgot to take a picture of them all in the roasting pan, but I did get a shot of our lunch for tomorrow!!

This recipe says it makes 24 rolls, but I only made 8. I was very generous on the filling! You could put less filling and make more; it is entirely up to you!!

Ingredients:

-          1 head of green cabbage

-          2 tbsp butter

-          2 large onions, sliced

-          ¼ tsp caraway seeds

-          ¼ tsp each salt and pepper

-          3 tbsp brown sugar

-          2 cans crushed tomatoes

Filling:

-          2 tbsp butter

-          1 onion, chopped

-          4 garlic cloves, minced

-          ½ tsp thyme

-          Pinch cayenne pepper

-          ½ cup long grain rice

-          1¼ cup chicken stock

-          1½ lb ground beef

-          ½ cup chopped parsley

-          2 tbsp chopped dill

-          1 egg, lightly beaten

-          ¾ tsp each salt and pepper

Directions:

1. In a large pot of boiling salted water, blanch cored cabbage for 5 to 8 minutes or until leaves are softened. Remove and chill under cold water.
2. Carefully pull off leaves from cabbage (as many as you want to make, plus a couple extra). Cut out coarse veins and pat dry. Set aside.
3. In a large skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Sauté onions, caraway seeds, salt and pepper for about 10 minutes.
4. Add sugar and cook for 2 minutes. Add tomatoes and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.
5. Filling: In a saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Cook onion, garlic, thyme and cayenne pepper for about 10 minutes.
6. Add rice and stir for 1 minute. Add stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed.
7. Put rice in a large bowl and let it cool for 5 minutes. Stir in ground beef, parsley, dill, egg, salt and pepper.
8. Spread 1 cup of tomato mixture in roasting pan.
9. Spoon filling onto centre of all leaves; fold ends and one side over filling and roll up. Arrange in a single layer and top with remaining tomato mixture. (Note: If you can make more than one layer, top bottom layer with half of tomato mixture and place other layer on top). Top with extra cabbage leaves to prevent scorching.
10. Cover and bake in 350^oF oven for about 2 hours, or until tender.
11. Optional: We added cheese before serving :)