Day of the Cabbage....

Publix finally had a HUGE head of cabbage (~5 lbs) so I made Joanie stuffed cabbage yesterday. (She's only been asking for them for at least 3 years.) Since I knew I had to be out of practice, I wrote down my seasonings, etc.

Ingredients

Stuffing

2 lbs ground sirloin
1 egg
parsley
1 diced onion, sauteed
2 cups cooked brown rice
1 tsp of garlic salt (1.5 would probably be fine)
dash of salt
pepper to taste

Sauce

I make marinara...using 2 large cans of Hunts Whole Tomatoes....and pre-cook it for 15 minutes. I then added 1/4 cup of the sauce (sans tomato chunks) to the meat mixture.

Cabbage

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Pre-carve around the stem/core of the cabbage and discard the first outer layer of leaves. After 5 minutes, using tongs, start pulling off the cabbage leaves one by one. (You will have to continually cut around the core.) When the cabbage head is no longer large enough to make a bundle, remove from the pot and let cool. These leaves are layered on the bottom of a large baking dish to prevent the bundles from sticking and burning on the bottom.

Preparing the Bundles

I do cut the heavy core out of each cabbage leaf...place ~1/4 cup of meat, fold in what once was the V-section, then fold in the sides and then the top and secure with a toothpick.

Layer your baking dish with a little sauce, the extra cabbage leaves and the bundles. Pour the marinara sauce over them. Cover loosely with foil and bake at 350 for 75 minutes. I do believe I cooked mine for 90 minutes....




This recipe made 17....Joanie took some home for lunch today : )