People who visit our family members’ homes for Passover really know we’re crazy - The first time Aileen came for the holiday, as someone who was ingratiating herself to her future in laws, she help serve and clear plates from the dinner table. When it came to the second night’s Seder, she helped serve the Stuffed Cabbage - no big deal, right? Well, to her surprise, the Stuffed Cabbage was NOT the main course - It was merely the appetizer! It was just one more crazy thing she had to get used to with my family over the years.
Have no fear though - this dish can easily be made as a main course! However, if you want to be like my family - serve it as an appetizer course - just don’t be surprised if people ask for seconds and ruin their appetites for the main course!
Ingredients
Tomato Sauce
1 Medium Onion - finely chopped
2 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 Can Chopped Tomatoes (28 Ounce)
1 Can Tomato Paste
1 Large (or 2 Small) Cloves of Garlic - finely chopped
1 Tablespoon Herbes de Provence (my “go to” spice mixture for a lot of dishes)
Salt and Pepper to taste
2 - 3 Tablespoons White Sugar
1/4 Cup Red Wine Vinegar (2 fluid ounces)
1/2 Cup of Water (4 fluid ounces)
Stuffed Cabbage
2 Pounds Ground Beef (80%/20% or 90%/10% Ground Chuck works well)
1 Medium Onion - Grated (I used a small food processor prep machine to very finely chop into a grated consistency)
2 Eggs - Beaten
1 Cup (8 fluid oz) Cold Mashed Potatoes (these are used to act as a binder)
Salt and Pepper
1 Large, Solid Head of Cabbage (Cut down the middle and cored)
2 - 3 Tablespoons Brown Sugar (this will depend upon how many layers you make)
1/2 Cup Water (4 fluid ounces)
Directions for Sauce (Your basically making a simple marinara sauce here)
Over a Medium flame, heat the olive oil in a small saucepan until oil shimmers.
Sweat the onions (adding a small amount of salt to get the moisture to come out). Add the garlic and continue to saute until the onions and garlic are softened (but don’t brown or burn the garlic).
Add the Canned Tomatoes and tomato paste. Continue to cook down the tomatoes and stir to make sure the tomato paste is thoroughly mixed into the sauce and combines with the tomatoes.
Add in the Herbes de Provence and continue to cook the sauce over a low simmer for another 10 - 15 minutes.
Remove the sauce from heat and add in the sugar, vinegar, and water.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Directions for the Cabbage
Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Place the cabbage in a steamer basket (with enough water in the pan to reach the bottom of the cabbage). Place a lid on the pot and turn up the heat to medium high - steam the cabbage until the leaves on the head are cooked through and can be easily separated.
Mixed the ground meat, onions, eggs, potatoes, in a bowl and mixed until thoroughly mixed through and through - Roll up those sleeves and really get in there with your bare hands - it’s time to get to know your ground beef mixture. Add your desired amount of salt and pepper (not much is actually necessary).
Start with a large oven safe pot to cook the cabbage rolls in - I use a large cast iron dutch oven for mine. In your room temperature baking vessel, spoon several spoonfuls of your fresh tomato sauce to coat the bottom of the dutch oven.
Now it’s time to roll the cabbages - there’s no perfect method for this and don’t worry if your cabbage rolls are all neatly tucked together (you will find there are plenty of stuffed cabbage soup recipes out there - so even if they fall apart, it’s still gonna be delicious). Now - let’s roll - take a leaf of cabbage (large leaves can be cut in half) - starting at the base, take a healthy spoonful of chopped beef mixture (the size of the spoonful will depend on the size of the cabbage leaf). Deposit the chopped beef onto the base of the cabbage leaf and start to roll the sides in an roll the beef up the base to the end of the cabbage leaf. Envision a stuffed grape leaf looking roll. Again don’t worry about them being perfect!
Take each stuffed cabbage leaf and start arranging them into the covered baking vessel. Continue to do this, until the layer is complete. When you have completed a layer - spoon tomato sauce over the layer of stuffed cabbage rolls. Sprinkle 1 - 1 1/2 Tablespoons of Brown Sugar over the layer of stuffed cabbage rolls. Repeat this until all your cabbage and ground beef mixture are used up. Don’t throw away any cabbage scraps you might have - toss them into the pot. Carefully pour the water in between a couple of the cabbage rolls to add a little extra moisture to help steam the rolls while they cook.
Pop the lid on the vessel and place it into the oven. Cook them for 2 to 2 1/2 hours. Remove them from the oven and resist the temptation to dig in!
These can be made and refrigerated and frozen in advance. Just put a little bit of water into the pan when you heat them up.
As Always Best Regards and Bon AppetIT!
The I.T. Gourmet
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