do you by chance have recipe to share, I am no good at making cabbage rolls but love 'em, thanks in advance.
Sure! I combined two existing recipes with some of my own additions, so I'll try to do it from memory.
Filling:
1 lb lean ground beef
1 small can tomato paste
1 small onion diced
1/2 cup uncooked long grain rice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
Mix it all together like you were making a meatloaf.
Cabbage:
Take a medium head of cabbage, mine was about 3 1/2 pounds. Remove 1 or 2 outer layers and rinse. Cut out a cone around the stem about 2 inches deep and discard. In a big pot, boil the head of cabbage about 5 minutes to soften the leaves. Carefully remove about 10-12 leaves individually. I did this while the cabbage was still in the pot of water over medium-low heat with tongs so that the underlying leaves softened up. Take each leaf and cut a "V" at the stem end to remove the heavy vein. Keep the veins and chop the remaining cabbage (not the core) to line the bottom of a large casserole pan.
Sauce:
1 28 oz. can diced tomatoes drained
1 15 oz. can tomato sauce
2 tbsp olive oil
4 cloves garlic smashed/peeled
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp fresh ground black pepper
In a saute pan or fry pan, saute the garlic until golden. Keep the oil in the pan, and discard the garlic. Add the diced tomatoes and spices. Simmer for about 15 minutes or so. Add the tomato sauce and simmer another 5-10 minutes or until you are ready to pour it on top of the cabbage rolls.
Making the rolls:
Lay a cabbage leaf down so the outside faces away from you (the leaf will be shaped like a bowl). Spoon some of the meat mixture (a little bigger than a golf ball) onto the leaf just above the point of the "V" you cut. Fold in the left and right sides over the meat then roll the rest of the way up to the top. Put the rolls in the casserole that you lined with the leftover cabbage, preferably in a single layer.
Cooking in the oven:
Pour your tomato sauce all over the rolls, cover the pan (foil works). Bake at 350 for 1 1/2 hr. or until a meat thermometer inserted into a roll shows 170. Serve hot!
Yes this was a bit time consuming, but it was Sunday dinner, so what the heck! DW helped me by rolling them up while I was pulling cabbage leaves off the head since I was being really careful not to tear them. Half of this recipe fed two teenagers, DW, and myself, so if need be you could cut it in half.