Beef Stuffed Cabbage Rolls in a red wine tomato sauce

By á-25087

Ingredients

• Sauce:
• 1 small head green cabbage
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 green bell pepper, cored and diced
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 14 ounces diced tomatoes (fresh will work, no-salt-added if you used canned)
• 1/4 cup red wine
• 1 tbsp mascavo sugar (or brown sugar)
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
• Filling:
• 1/2 of the sautéed vegetables from the sauce (see preparation below)
• 1/2 lb grass-fed ground beef
• 1 cup cooked rice
• 2 tbsp cabbage roll sauce (above)
• 1 tbsp hot sauce
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.


*Cabbage*

Fill a large soup pot ¾ full with water. Bring to a boil. Remove any dirty or bruised outer leaves of the cabbage. Place the whole head of cabbage in the boiling water. Let it boil about 2 minutes, or until the outer leaves begin pull away from the head.


Remove the cabbage from the water (I used a ladle). Use kitchen shears to cut off the outer leaves at the stem. They should be partially cooked and flexible. Set them aside to dry and cool. Return the head of cabbage to the boiling water. Repeat this process until you have 10 to 12 cabbage leaves.


Reserve 1 to 2 cups of the cabbage cooking water.


*Sauce*

For the sauce, heat the olive oil over medium-high. Add the onion, garlic and bell pepper. Cook for about 3 minutes, or until the vegetables begin to brown and soften. Remove half of the vegetables from the pan and place in a glass mixing bowl. (This is for your filling.)


Back to the skillet, add the tomatoes and wine. Cook, stirring often, for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the sugar, salt, basil and pepper. Cook 1 more minute. Stir in the 1 cup of reserved cabbage water.


Transfer the sauce to a blender and puree until smooth. Add more cabbage water if you want a thinner sauce. (I used only the 1 cup.) Pour the sauce back in the skillet to keep it warm.


*Filling*

Add the ground beef and rice to the bowl with the reserved vegetables. Add 2 tablespoons of the finished cabbage roll sauce, hot sauce, salt and pepper. Use a fork or your clean hands to mix the filling well.


*Assembly*

First spoon about ¼ cup of the tomato sauce into a 5 quart Dutch oven and spread it over the bottom of the pan.

Place a cabbage leaf on the counter top with the inside facing up (it should curve up like a cup), and put about ¼ cup of the filling towards the stem end of the leaf. You will have to judge how much filling to use based on the size of your leaves. I had a huge variation so I used anywhere from 2 tablespoons to a ½ cup. Just ensure that it isn’t so much that it squeezes out the side.

Fold in the both sides, and starting with the stem end, roll the leaf around the filling. Place seam-side down in the Dutch oven. Repeat the process with the remaining leaves.

Pour the sauce over the cabbage rolls, and cover the pot with the lid. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, or until the cabbage has softened and the meat is cooked through and no longer pink