Turkey Stuffed Cabbage Rolls

AKA one of my favorite foods!  

My roommate Allyson in New Orleans made this one time and I think I ate the leftovers for every meal for a week.   

You can put any seasonings in this.  I used basil, it called for parsley.  

 Get all of your separate parts and fill it up!

 Pack them into that pot you boiled the cabbage in...

 Cover with part cabbage boil water and part tomato spaghetti sauce and cook away.  Yummers!

Stuffed Cabbage Rolls

 

2 quarts water

1 large head of cabbage

2 tablespoons butter

1 large onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

2 cups cooked brown rice

1 lb. ground turkey (or pork or beef)

salt and pepper

1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes

2 celery stalks, finely chopped

1 green pepper, finely chopped

4 cups tomato puree

 

1. Remove the center core of the cabbage. (Not as easy as it sounds) Boil 2 quarts of the water in a  stockpot that is not make of aluminum. Add the cabbage and cook for 2-3 minutes until the outer leaves are tender. Remove the outer elaves and continue cooking the rest, removing outer leaves and cooking the interior until all the leaves are cooked and removed. Reserve 2 cups of the cooking water.

 

2. Cut away the bottom of the center vein on each leaf. Place 4 large outer leaves at the bottom of the stockpot.

 

3. Melt the butter in a pan and add the onion and garlic, cooking until it is golden.

 

4. Mix onion/garlic misture in a bowl with ground meat, rice, salt, pepper, parsley, green pepper and celery.

 

5. Place 1/4 to 1/3 cup of the rice mixture on each cabbage leaf. To roll the leaves up, fold in the sides, then begin rolling from the bottom of the leaf, tucking the edge of the leaf under the finished roll. Place the rolled leaves in the stockpot.

 

6. Mix tomatoes and reserved cabbage water in a bowl. Pour enough into the stockpot to almost cover the cabbage. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and cover and simmer for 1 hour until the cabbage is tender. Add more reserved tomato/water mix while cabbage cooks if the level drops too far.

 

Substitution: feel free to swap out a jar of spaghetti suace for the pureed tomatoes. (I did this because I've read bad things about canned tomatoes.  I generally try to avoid them in my own cooking.)