Many cultures eat cabbage rolls with a variety of fillings and sauces, but they are especially prevalent in Ukrainian, Russian, and Polish culture and are often served for holidays and special occasions. In Eastern Europe, tomato sauce or plain sour cream are the traditional toppings.
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
Instructions:
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.
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.
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, 1 1/2 hours.
“It was an abundance of dill in my garden that led me to try this. My childhood memories liked the taste so much that, from then on, I made my old-fashioned cabbage rolls recipe with dill. This is how to make easy cabbage rolls.” – Iulia Grytsyk, Council Bluffs, IA