Rolling with cabbage on a weeknight.

Stuffed Cabbage Rolls were never on my radar before we went to Washington DC… never…. It was not something I thought “let’s have meat and rice wrapped up in a cabbage leaf cooked in tomato sauce”. I have no idea what culture this is from – but it’s thumbs up from our family. We had them in DC and since my kids ate them I decided maybe we needed to give them a shot. We had a partial head of cabbage and pound of hamburger so that made it easy since we had the main ingredients on hand. I did some creative wrapping since Andy had sliced some cabbage off for pot stickers so the leaves weren’t all whole. I made these on a Sunday for an easy “pop in the oven” meal on Monday. Since my kids love cabbage (with corned beef) this was a winner with our kids. I felt like I over killed on the cayenne but honestly any cayenne seems like too much for me. It’s a more complicated recipe – but if you make it ahead, it’s an easy meal on a weeknight.

Stuffed Cabbage Rolls Recipe

1 large head of cabbage green
Tomato Sauce:
2 Tbsp. oil olive or avocado
1 cup sweet onion finely chopped, divided
2 cloves garlic crushed
15 oz. tomato sauce canned
15 oz. crushed tomatoes canned
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbsp. sugar optional
1 tsp. salt to taste
½ tsp. black pepper to taste
Filling:
1 lb. ground beef or turkey
1 cup rice cooked, white or brown
½ cup sweet onion finely chopped, divided
1 clove garlic crushed
1 egg
1 tsp. salt
¼ tsp. black pepper
3 Tbsp. fresh parsley finely chopped
¼ tsp. paprika
⅛ tsp. cayenne pepper

Instructions
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
Cut and remove about 1 inch from the bottom of the head of cabbage.
Place the entire head of cabbage into the pot of boiling water and boil for 4-5 minutes or until the leaves peel easily and are pliable.
Remove the boiled head of cabbage from the pot and place on a dish towel to let drain.
Once cool to the touch, peel 12 cabbage leaves from the head, being careful not to tear them.
Tomato Sauce:
Add oil and chopped onion to a large skillet over medium heat. Sauté for 2-3 minutes, or until the onion has softened. Add crushed garlic and continue sautéing for an additional minute.
Add in tomato sauce, crushed tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce, sugar, 1 teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon black pepper. Stir to combine.
Increase heat to high and bring sauce to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered, for 10-15 minutes.
Cabbage Rolls:
Add all filling ingredients to a large bowl. Mash the ingredients together using a potato masher until well combined.
Place one cabbage leaf on a cutting board. Cut a V-shaped incision at the base of each leaf to remove the bottom 1-2 inches of the tough rib.
Add in about 3-4 tablespoons of the filling mixture into each leaf.
Fold the right side of the leaf over the filling and then fold the left side over.
Starting at the base, begin rolling the cabbage leaf up.
Repeat the above steps with the remaining filling and cabbage leafs.
Spray a large 9×13 inch baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. Pour in tomato sauce and spread it out along the bottom of the dish.
Place cabbage rolls, seam-side-down, in two rows of six rolls.
Cover the baking dish with a piece of aluminum foil and bake in preheated oven for 60-75 minutes.