Stuffed Cabbage Rolls

 

Stuffed Cabbage Rolls (Galumpki)

 

Cabbage Leaves:

I wasn't sure how to do this, but this worked for me...

 

Set a LARGE pot of water to boil

Cut the core out of the head of cabbage

Once the water boils, submerge the whole head of cabbage

Bring back to a boil

The leaves should soften and start to pull away from the head

Drain and rise in cool water just so you can handle it to remove full leaves
 

Sauce:

In a bowl whisk together:

 

1 (8oz) an tomato sauce

1 (12oz) can tomato paste

1 to 1 1/2 cups water

2 teaspoons lemon juice

1 teaspoon Worcestershire  sauce

1+ Tablespoons of Agave (or 3 Tablespoons brown sugar)

Spices or fresh herbs of your choice (I added cilantro, garlic, basil, oregano, parsley)

 

Filling:

In large frying pan, heat slight amount of olive oil or flax oil.  Add 1/3 cup chopped red onion and several cloves of fresh crushed garlic.  Then add 1-1.5 pounds lean ground turkey. (You could use, lean beef, venison or your ground meat of choice.) Cook until turkey is browned, and onion is tender.  Drain. Set aside to cool slightly.

Mix in to meat:

  1 (8oz) can tomato sauce

  1egg-beaten
  1/4 to 1/2 cup medium chunky salsa (gave it a nice flavor kick!)

  pepper (and other seasonings of choice-I found no salt was necessary because of the salt in the canned sauce I used)

  about 1 cup cooked rice (I used ready to serve brown and wild rice)

  1-2 Tablespoons flax seeds (optional)

 

Putting it all together:

lay out the cabbage leaves (trim off the tough end if necessary)

put about 2 heaping Tablespoons of filling in the center of each leaf. 

Fold over the ends and roll up (mine ended up more like squares then rolls)

Place a little of the sauce and some carrots sliced thinly by length (optional) in the bottom of a baking dish.

Place the cabbage rolls in the baking dish-Seam side down.

  I ended up with about 6 BIG rolls and 8 medium rolls, so I used two dishes and froze one!

Cover evenly with the sauce. (Be sure sauce gets between them and around the edges too)

Bake It:

Cover with foil.

Bake at 350 (preheat oven) for about an hour.  Remove foil last 10 minutes.

Serve with a bit of fresh grated parmesan

 

What to do with the rest of the head of cabbage???  See my next blog for a great side dish idea to serve with these cabbage rolls.