Ingredients: |
Ingredients: Cabbage Rolls
1 large head green cabbage, about 2 to 2¼ pounds
2 pounds ground beef
2 eggs (not necessary, you can leave them out, but they bind and make the meat fluffier)
1 medium onion, grated or minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
½ cup uncooked white rice (I like using long-grain) *
Tomato Sauce
2 tablespoons butter or vegetable oil
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 medium onion, chopped (medium dice)
(2) 15-ounce cans tomato sauce or one 32-ounce can whole tomatoes, pulsed in a food processor with juice until pureed.
juice of one lemon or 2 tablespoons (or more to taste) apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons to ¾ cup light brown sugar (Depending on amount of sweetness you prefer. Start with 1 to 2 tablespoons and taste the sauce, adding if you like it sweeter. If you prefer it completely savory, add only 1 tablespoon brown sugar and the juice from half a lemon)
Salt and pepper to taste
½ cup golden raisins (optional)
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Directions: |
Directions:Fill a large pot with water and bring it to a rolling boil. When the water comes to a boil, fill a large bowl with ice water. Cut out as much of the core as you can from the bottom of the cabbage, then drop the whole, cored head into the boiling water for 3 to 4 minutes. Once the leaves separate and are pliable, immediately remove and drop the blanched leaves that separated (keep the pot of water boiling) in the ice water. Once cooled down, remove and pat the leaves dry. Repeat with any leaves still attached to the head and not pliable, until you've gotten all the leaves off the head, and they are all soft and pliable.
Set aside about 16 of the largest leaves (these will be your cabbage rolls. If you can only get 14 leaves, it's fine) and slice off any thick parts of the vein on each of them, or just cut out the thick vein since that part will be covered once the cabbage leaf is rolled. Chop some of the remaining cabbage leaves to make 1 cup of chopped cabbage, and reserve.
Mix the ground beef with the eggs, grated onion, chopped garlic, salt, pepper, and rice. Divide the meat mixture into sixteen equal pieces, or 14 equal pieces, about 2 to 3 oz each, depending on whether you have 16 or 14 cabbage leaves. Using slightly moistened hands, form the pieces into thick cylinders. Place a cylinder of filling near the bottom of a cabbage leaf (if the vein in the leaf is really thick, shave it down with a knife before placing the beef on it, being careful not to cut a big hole through the leaf itself OR, cut the thick vein out completely in a narrow V. When you roll the cabbage, that V will be covered sufficiently, as mentioned above).
Roll the meat filled cabbage leaf up, folding both sides over the filling, and finish rolling to enclose the filling, like an egg roll. Continue, filling and rolling all the cabbage leaves. Place them seam side down.
Over medium heat, melt the butter in a heavy, non-reactive saucepan. Sauté the second onion until soft and golden. Add the garlic and cook for 2 more minutes, then add the reserved 1 cup chopped cabbage and sauté for about 30 seconds to 1 minute more.
Add the tomato sauce, lemon juice, brown sugar, salt and pepper to taste, and stir to combine. Increase the heat until it comes to a boil, then lower it and simmer for 5 minutes. Add raisins at the end.
Line of the bottom of a 13 x 9 pan with a layer of sauce. Place cabbage rolls, seam side down, on top of sauce. Top cabbage rolls with remaining sauce then cover the whole pan with tin foil. Bake for 2 hours in a preheated 350 F oven.
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