Stuffed Cabbage

Ingredients:

1 head sour cabbage with very thin leaves

1 pound lean ground pork

1/3 cup uncooked white rice

2 clove garlic minced

1/4 cup chopped onion

2 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

2 tomatoes

smoked ham or sausage (optional)

 

Directions:

In a bowl combine ground meat with uncooked rice, pepper, salt, black pepper, paprika, minced garlic and finely chopped onion. Mix thoroughly.

Core the cabbage with a sharp thin knife. Carefully remove the cabbage leaves, one by one, so that they do not tear. Rinse the cabbage leaves if they are very salty or sour. Cut larger leaves in 2 or 3 and then place a little meat mixture in each cabbage leaf and roll in. 

You can use fresh cabbage also. Blench leaves until tender, let them cool and then roll with meat.

Do not roll up the cabbage rolls too tightly, as the rice needs room to expand as it cooks. Repeat with the rest of the leaves until the filling is used up. If you have extra filling you can make meatballs and cook them in the same pot on top of the stuffed cabbage.

Spread a couple of cabbage leaves or sauerkraut over the bottom of the pot.

Place all of the cabbage rolls tightly into the dish.

Between layers put tomato slices and smoked ham/sausage. You can use tomato sauce instead of fresh tomatoes.

Sprinkle with dried thyme. If you have extra cabbage just put it on top of the rolls. Pour water over the rolls until they are covered.

Cover tightly with a lid or aluminum foil and place in the oven. Cook on stove top on medium heat for 45min to 1 hour or bake for 1 1/2 to 2 hours at 350F, adding water or stock to the dish as needed to keep it from drying out (the rice will soak up liquid as it cooks).

Serve hot with the sour cream.

tags: stuffed cabbage recipe, stuffed cour cabbage, sarmale recipe, sarma recipe, toltott kaposzta recipe, baked stuffed cabbage recipe