Cabbage rolls

It's my first post on flavour bible and it needs to be something special. I love hearty comfort food so the cabbage rolls are a perfect choice.

They are not difficult and full of flavour. All you need is a little bit of patience. 

What you need?

1 big cabbage (can be savoy)

1kg minced pork or beef meat

2 bags (2x125g) rice

smoked sweet paprika

salt

water
oil

Who do we do it?

We need a really big cooking pot. It needs to be big enough to fit whole cabbage. So measure it first - just put the cabbage into the pan and see if it fits. It can't just seat on the edge, it has to go inside the pot. Once we have it sorted we boil a kettle of water. We pour the boiling water into the pot and we leave it on the medium heat so it keeps boiling. We put the cabbage inside the pot. We steam the leaves so they become soft. To make our life easier we can cut the leaves just around the cabbage stump. Then we separate the cabbage leaves. One by one. Spread on cotton kitchen towel and pat dry.

In the meantime we can cook the rice. Just follow instruction form the packet. No racket science needed.

Cool down the rice, add all minced meat and add your favourite spices. I always go for pinch of powdered garlic, marjoram, salt and pepper. Mix well together.

And here we go. It is time to roll!

Remove the hard part of the spine with a knife.

Put a portion of filling at the bottom of the leaf.

Roll the leaf to cover the filling.

Fold the sides of the leaf to the centre to create a parcel or envelope. 

Roll one more time and it's ready!

We repeat all the steps for each leaf.

Frying. I think it reveals all the best flavours from the cabbage so please don't skip it ;)

Heat 2 tablespoons of oil on frying pan. Place the cabbage rolls on hot pan. Fry until golden brown. You can sprinkle your cabbage rolls with sweet smoked paprika.

Fried cabbage rolls go to a roasting dish with lid. Just put them in layers, add 2 tablespoons of water and put into the oven. Heat the oven to 175C/160C with fan and bake for 1 hour.

Serve with cream tomato sauce!


Mmmm.... Yummy!