Spicy Cabbage Rolls

Okay, I'm not gonna lie, this recipe was a lot more work than I anticipated.
That said, I promise It's totally WORTH all the work!

I remember eating cabbage rolls as a kid growing up on the east coast, they were usually for special occasion's or St. Patty's Day.  My Polish friends call them "Galumpkis" whatever you call them, we like them!  

I consider these cabbage rolls comfort food, they will not disappoint if you like spicy (or not) the recipe can be adjusted-just leave out the red peppers!

This is a step-by-step recipe and what makes it a little difficult is several steps are going on at the same time..So take it slow and follow my tips and you should do fine.



Cook the rice and set aside..(this can be done ahead of time obviously)



Chop up the Onion, shallots and garlic and set aside...

Peel off the outer rough outer leaves of the cabbage and put aside..(we will be using these later)
Core the Cabbage on the bottom like this...

Start peeling off the leaves starting at the bottom and rinse and drain well.
This is the tedious part..

OR...You may find it easier to core the cabbage and blanch for about 5 minutes and the leaves peel away way easier...

Lay the the cabbage leaves out to see how many you will have to work with..

****Make sure to save the outer leaves as we will be using them!


Okay, here is where it may get confusing...there are 2 sauces to make....kind of.


There is the sauce with the onions, garlic, shallots and tomato paste that gets mixed with the meat and rice, etc.   And then there is the Sweet & Sour Tomato Sauce in the big pot...I hope I am not thoroughly confusing you at this point..


To make the Sweet & Sour Tomato Sauce...

In a 3 quart sauce pan saute garlic in 1 teaspoon olive oil over medium heat for about 1 minute.

Add the 1.5 quarts (6 cups) crushed tomatoes, sugar and white wine vinegar, red pepper flakes and cook for about 5-7 minutes.

TIP*** To make your own crushed tomatoes, pulse whole tomatoes in a food processor.  No food processor?  Just put them in a bowl and squeeze with your hands.

To make the sauce for INSIDE the cabbage rolls,

Saute the onions, garlic and shallots in 1 tablespoon of olive oil for about 5 minutes then stir in the tomato paste, and dry red wine.

 Add one half cup of the tomato sauce mixture..(from the big pot)

Combine in a large bowl, the meat (I used Organic Turkey and Grass Fed Beef),  rice, egg, salt & pepper and sauteed onion mixture

Mix well, with your hands is the easiest way!

Steam the cabbage leaves for about 5 minutes to get them pliable.

Cut out the beginning of the center vein, this will make it easier roll up.

Form a long tube and roll up, depending on how big you want the rolls I used about a half cup of the meat filing..

Starting at the stem end fold the sides in and roll up "burrito style"..

hopefully you know what that is..

Next, line the 9 x 14 baking dish with the outer leaves and place cabbage rolls side by side seam side down in the baking dish like so..

Pour the remaining sauce over the top like this...

Fold the leaves over the top, I added one more over the top after the photo below.

Drizzle 2 tablespoons Olive oil over the top of the Cabbage leaves and bake at 320 degrees for 3.5 hours...

Ingredients- 

Sweet & Sour Tomato Sauce

7 cups Organic Crushed Tomatoes 

2 Tbsp Olive Oil

2 Organic Garlic cloves (minced)

4 Tbsp Organic White Wine Vinegar

2 Tbsp Organic Sugar

1-2 Tbsp Sea Salt or Kosher Salt (I use Maldon's) or to taste

1-2 Tbsp fresh ground Pepper (or to taste)

1 Tbsp Organic Red Pepper flakes

Ingredients-

Cabbage Rolls

2 lb Meat of choice (I used  lb Organic Turkey & 1 pound Grass Fed Beef) 

2 Tbsp Organic Tomato Paste

2 Tbsp Olive Oil

1 Large Organic Egg

2 Organic Garlic cloves (minced)

1 Organic Yellow Onion (chopped)

1 Tbsp Dry Red Organic Wine

1.5 cups Organic Steamed White Jasmine Rice

2 large heads Organic Green Cabbage

Enjoy!

Sandy V.