Cabbage Rolls, Old Fashioned

Ingredients

• 1 medium head cabbage (3 pounds)
• 1/2 pound uncooked ground beef
• 1/2 pound uncooked ground pork
• 1 can (15 ounces) tomato sauce, divided
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup uncooked long grain rice
• 1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon snipped fresh dill or dill weed
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 can (14-1/2 ounces) diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar

Directions

Prep the cabbage

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and (gently) drop in the entire head of cabbage. Cook the cabbage in boiling water just until the outer leaves pull easily away from the head. Using tongs, remove and set aside 12 large leaves for your rolls. Remove the remaining cabbage from the pot, and set it aside.
2. Editor’s Tip: Before cooking the cabbage, remove the main portion of the stem. With a paring knife, pointing the knife towards the center of the cabbage, cut around the stem so that you’re removing a cone-shaped piece. Check out the video to see what the cabbage will look like once you do this.

Make the filling

1. In a small bowl, combine the beef, pork, 1/2 cup of tomato sauce, onion, rice, parsley, salt, dill and cayenne, and mix well. (Clean hands are the best tool here!)
2. Editor’s Tip: Making the filling and the sauce while the cabbage cooks is a great time saver. If you’re unsure about your seasonings, cook up a tiny piece, taste it and adjust the seasonings accordingly.

Trim the cabbage leaves

1. Cut out the thick vein from the bottom of each leaf, making a V-shaped cut.
2. Editor’s Tip: You can also shave off the toughest part of the stem, making it more flexible without fully removing it. Start at the thinnest part of the vein on the exterior side of the leaf, and carefully run a paring knife towards the bottom of the leaf, shaving off the thickest part.

Stuff the cabbage

1. Place about 1/4 cup of the meat mixture in the center of a cabbage leaf. Overlap the cut ends, and fold in the sides. Beginning from the cut end, roll up the leaves into a cute little envelope. Repeat with remaining leaves.

Prepare the Dutch oven

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Slice the remaining cabbage and place it in a Dutch oven, lining the bottom. Arrange the cabbage rolls, with the seam side down, over the sliced cabbage.
2. Combine the tomatoes, sugar and remaining tomato sauce, and pour it over the rolls.
3. Editor’s Tip: A Dutch oven is one of the best things to have in a kitchen. It’s sturdy and cooks food evenly. And our Test Kitchen’s picks for the best Dutch oven brands can be used for a wide variety of recipes.

Bake the rolls

1. Cover the Dutch oven and bake the cabbage rolls until the they’re tender, about 1 hour and 30 minutes.
2. Cook cabbage in boiling water just until outer leaves pull away easily from head. Set aside 12 large leaves for rolls. In a small bowl, combine the beef, pork, 1/2 cup tomato sauce, onion, rice, parsley, salt, dill and cayenne; mix well.
3. Cut out the thick vein from the bottom of each leaf, making a V-shaped cut. Place about 1/4 cup meat mixture on a cabbage leaf; overlap cut ends of leaf. Fold in sides. Beginning from the cut end, roll up. Repeat.
4. Slice the remaining cabbage; place in a Dutch oven. Arrange the cabbage rolls seam side down over sliced cabbage. Combine the tomatoes, sugar and remaining tomato sauce; pour over the rolls. Cover and bake at 350° until cabbage rolls are tender, about 1-1/2 hours.

Nutrition

2 cabbage rolls: 260 calories, 10g fat (4g saturated fat), 50mg cholesterol, 694mg sodium, 23g carbohydrate (5g sugars, 3g fiber), 18g protein.