Stuffed Cabbage Recipe
Sunday, November 21, 2010 Posted by BusyWorkingMama
So, I can probably guess not many of you are cabbage fans...but we are. Being Polish, I of course, grew up on it, and I am lucky that both Adam and Lily love cabbage...actually, they love pretty much anything I cook. This weekend I was taking an inventory of the fridge and trying to use up some of the perishables and decided to modify the recipe a little to use up some green bell peppers that were able to bite the dust. My recipe below makes a giant batch (I have a special giant pot I use to make this) so I would suggest halfing it if you're not a crazy cook like me. To be honest, I won't add the chopped green pepper again - the flavor was a little too sweet for my tastes. I kept it out of the recipe below.
Start cooking your rice or barley. While the cabbage and rice cook, chop onion, garlic and sauté in some olive oil. I usually add some salt and pepper to this mixture. Place your meat of choice in the largest mixing bowl you have. Toss in some of your favorite seasonings to taste. Add the veggie mixture and the rice and mix well with your hands. This gets messy. Wear gloves if raw meat freaks bothers you. Set aside. Your cabbage should be well cooked at this point. Turn off the heat, poor off the hot water and let it sit and cool. Once cool, cut or break off each cabbage leaf if you haven't done so while it was cooking.
Once you have a pile of leaves and a bowl of meat/rice/barley, get to work! I get my giant pot ready and put some tomato sauce on the bottom. Roll the meat into an oval and wrap it with a cabbage leaf, then place in the pot.
Continue until you use up the meat mixture, toss any remaining cabbage into the pot. Pour some tomato sauce over your stuffed cabbage and simmer on low to medium heat until the meat cooks through. Enjoy!
1 cabbage head, rinsed
4 pounds ground meat of your choice
2 cups rice or barley, boiled
1 medium onion, chopped finely
2-4 cloves garlic, minced
tomatoe sauce
seasoning of your choicePlace your cabbage head in a big pot of water and bring it to a low boil. Let it simmer to soften the cabbage while you make other preparations. If you've never dealt with cabbage before, you should know it needs to be well cooked so that you can manipulate the leaves. I stick a fork in the base and cut off the leaves as it boils to cook them nicely.
Start cooking your rice or barley. While the cabbage and rice cook, chop onion, garlic and sauté in some olive oil. I usually add some salt and pepper to this mixture. Place your meat of choice in the largest mixing bowl you have. Toss in some of your favorite seasonings to taste. Add the veggie mixture and the rice and mix well with your hands. This gets messy. Wear gloves if raw meat freaks bothers you. Set aside. Your cabbage should be well cooked at this point. Turn off the heat, poor off the hot water and let it sit and cool. Once cool, cut or break off each cabbage leaf if you haven't done so while it was cooking.
I typically trim some of the hard rind off the leaf because that's how my mom taught me to do it.
Once you have a pile of leaves and a bowl of meat/rice/barley, get to work! I get my giant pot ready and put some tomato sauce on the bottom. Roll the meat into an oval and wrap it with a cabbage leaf, then place in the pot.
Continue until you use up the meat mixture, toss any remaining cabbage into the pot. Pour some tomato sauce over your stuffed cabbage and simmer on low to medium heat until the meat cooks through. Enjoy!
November 21, 2010
I love cabbage too, i've always wanted to try them like this.
November 21, 2010
We love cabbage too..thanks for the simple awesome recipe,great pics too!
I might make two versions, one veggie w/Boca or Morningstar crumbles.
haha Marina,that made me smile;)
November 21, 2010
Yum! I love stuffed cabbage but I've never made it myself. I appreciate the details and pictures in your post!
Is there a paticular mixture of meat that you like? I think I would like ground beef but I was wondering about adding something else to it.
Thanks for sharing the recipe!
November 22, 2010
So that's how stuffed cabbage looks! I'm glad you showed it!
November 22, 2010
Yummm!! I love cabbage!
November 22, 2010
This sounds like something my grandmother used to make. She made so much with cabbage and hamburger - yum!!! Hope your doing well and getting ready to enjoy a nice long holiday weekend with no AUDITORS.
November 22, 2010
Yum! Going to try this one soon.
November 22, 2010
I actually love cabbage, but have never had the stuffed version. It sounds yummy.
November 23, 2010
interesting. Same recipe as my great grandmother used to do basically but ours were always baked in the oven, not on the stove