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Cabbage Rolls by Anne Nicol

Try making Annes Phenomenal Roasted Tomato Sauce to accompany your Cabbage Rolls. Do as many tomatoes as you can and freeze for later use, you'll be happy you did! Try freezing the entire head of cabbage for 3 days prior to making rolls to avoid dealing with the boiling water. We keep a couple in the freezer just in case.

2 quarts water

1 large green cabbage

2 tbsp butter

1 large onion, finely chopped

4 garlic cloves, minced

2 cups cooked rice

250 g ground beef

250 g ground pork

2 celery stalks with leaves, finely chopped

1 medium green pepper, grated

1 tbsp. Italian parsley, finely chopped

1 tbsp. worcestershire sauce

1 tbsp. cider vinegar

Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

4 cups tomato sauce (see Anne's Phenomenal Roasted Tomato Sauce)

Preheat oven to 350F

Using paring knife, remove center core of cabbage.

In large stockpot, bring 2 quarts water to a boil. Add cabbage; cook 3 - 4 minutes or until outer leaves are bright green and tender. 

Lift cabbage from water; remove outer leaves. Return cabbage head to boiling water; repeat brief cooking and removal of leaves until all leaves are cooked. Reserve 2 cups cabbage cooking water.

Trim thick center vein from bottom of each leaf.

In medium skillet, melt butter over medium heat, add onion and garlic; cook until golden and tender, about 8 minutes.

In large bowl, combine onion mixture, rice, beef, pork, celery, green pepper, parsley worcestershire sauce, cider vinegar, salt and pepper. Stir to combine.

Add about 1/3 cup rice filling to one cabbage leaf. Fold sides of cabbage over filling, and, starting with the stem end, roll the cabbage up. Repeat with remaining leaves and filling.

Place stuffed cabbage rolls in a casserole dish seam-side down and top with tomato sauce. (Can be frozen at this point and baked later.) Tent with foil and bake for approximately 1 hr.