Cabbage Rolls

By MystiQ

Ingredients

• Cabbage and Sauce
• 1 medium head green cabbage, about 3 lbs (1350 g)
• 15-oz (470-ml) can tomato sauce
• 2 Tbsp (30 ml) brown sugar
• 2 Tbsp (30 ml) lemon juice
• 2 tsp (10 ml) Worcestershire sauce
• Meat Filling
• 1/2 lb (225 g) ground beef
• 1/2 lb (225 g) ground pork
• 1/2 cup (125 ml) tomato sauce
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup (125 ml) uncooked long-grain rice
• 1 Tbsp (15 ml) dry minced parsley
• 1/2 tsp (2.5 ml) salt
• 1/4 tsp (1.25 ml) ground black pepper
• 1/4 tsp (1.25 ml) paprika

Details

Servings 12
Adapted from wikihow.com

Preparation

Step 1

Bring a large stockpot of water to boil.
The stockpot should contain enough water to completely cover the head of cabbage.
Trim the cabbage. Cut away as much of the core as you can and remove any torn or ragged outer leaves.
Cut around the core at the bottom of the cabbage head using a small paring knife. Dig as much of the core out as possible. Doing this makes it easier to remove the leaves after the cabbage boils.
Place the cabbage in the boiling water and cook for roughly 2 minutes.
The leaves should soften and start to break free once the cabbage has boiled for a sufficient amount of time

Pull away 12 large leaves. Once the cabbage is cool enough to handle with your hands, remove 12 leaves from the outside of the cabbage, keeping them intact as much as possible.
As you pull away the leaves, do so gently so that you do not accidentally rip them.

Cut the thick center vein from each leaf. Use a paring knife to cut a V-shaped cut from the bottom of each leaf around the thick center rib to remove it.
Only cut out the thickest part of this center rib, located at the bottom of the stem. Do not cut too far into the leaf. If you do, wrapping the leaf around the filling will become difficult.

Mix the sauce ingredients together.
In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the tomato sauce, brown sugar, lemon juice, and Worcestershire sauce. Set aside.
For a chunkier sauce, you could use an undrained 15-oz (470-ml) can of diced tomatoes and 1 cup (250 ml) of tomato sauce instead of the 15-oz (470-ml) can of tomato sauce.

Filling the Cabbage Rolls
Place the ground beef, ground pork, tomato sauce, chopped onion, uncooked rice, parsley, salt, pepper, and paprika in a large mixing bowl and mix the ingredients with your hands until thoroughly combined.
Place even amounts of filling on each cabbage leaf. Place roughly 1/4 cup (60 ml) of the mixture in each leaf, toward the center bottom.
Roll the leaf around the filling. Beginning from the cut end of the leaf, roll each leaf up and over the filling, tucking the leaf underneath itself to create a tight bundle.
Tuck the ends under. Fold the open ends of each leaf underneath the bundle to prevent the roll from unraveling.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (180 degrees Celsius).[2] Bring out a large Dutch oven or roasting pan for the cabbage rolls
Spread 1/2 cup (125 ml) of the sauce on the bottom of the Dutch oven. Spoon the sauce onto the bottom of the pan and spread it out evenly
Arrange the cabbage rolls over the sauce. Place the cabbage rolls seam-side-down on the sauce-covered pan bottom, keeping them in a single layer.
Pour the remaining sauce over the cabbage rolls. Cover the rolls as evenly as possible.
Bake for 60 to 90 minutes. Cover the pan and bake the rolls until become tender.
Check the cabbage rolls after the first 60 minutes. If the cabbage leaves still do not feel tender, continue baking for the additional 30 minutes