INGREDIENTS FOR OLD FASHIONED STUFFED CABBAGE ROLLS
If you have experience making this recipe, you’ll find most of the items on this ingredient list familiar. We’ve included a few additional ingredients to enhance the taste and add a unique touch.
Cabbage: A whole head of cabbage is required, and we recommend green cabbage due to its tenderness and pliability after a brief boiling.
Meat mixture: To make this dish, you will require a mixture of lean ground beef, pork sausage, and pre-cooked long-grain white rice. While certain recipes suggest using a single type of meat, we prefer the combination of both.
Spices: Creole seasoning is the main spice in this recipe, which provides a touch of spiciness to the finished dish. You can remove it completely without suffering any harmful effects.
Tomato sauce: Although some traditional recipes for cabbage rolls may suggest using tomato soup or bottled tomato juice, we are elevating our recipe by incorporating onion, bell pepper, celery, tomato paste, and crushed tomatoes to enhance both the texture and flavor. Additionally, the beef stock contributes to the sauce’s volume, ensuring there’s just enough to coat the bread.
Notably absent from these cabbage rolls is sugar. Unlike several cabbage roll recipes that call for brown sugar, omitting sugar gives these rolls a distinctly savory flavor.
HOW TO MAKE OLD FASHIONED STUFFED CABBAGE ROLLS?
Preparing the cabbage leaves for rolling is the most challenging aspect of creating homemade cabbage rolls, but it is not a difficult task. Our Test Kitchen has provided some helpful tips to simplify the process.
Step 1. Make tomato sauce: The flavor of this dish resides in its tomato sauce, though the pork, beef, and rice also contribute to its savory taste. For an enhanced flavor, cook the onion, bell pepper, and celery in a Dutch oven by sautéing until they become tender. This will help build up a robust flavor profile.
Next, include garlic, stock, tomato paste, tomatoes, and a portion of the Creole seasoning. Next, adjust the boiling point of the mixture, then reduce the heat until the mixture is cooked and thickened.
Step 2. Boil cabbage: After removing the core of the cabbage (to allow water to penetrate deep into the cabbage leaves), carefully place the cabbage in a stockpot filled with water. Bring the water to a boil and let the cabbage leaves simmer for approximately 5 minutes until they become tender.
Remove the cabbage head from the water and carefully detach 10 large leaves, while keeping a few extra ones on hand in case of any tearing or damage. Using a knife, remove the ribs or tough inner stalk from the leaves. In case the remaining leaves start to become stiff, you can put the cabbage head back into the boiling water for a little while longer.
Step 3. Make cabbage rolls filling: Here’s a helpful tip to avoid confusion with this step: Remember that the meat is raw, while the rice is already cooked. Take a bowl and mix the cooked rice with the raw sausage, beef, and egg. Afterward, add 1/2 cup of tomato sauce and additional Creole seasoning according to taste. Keep in mind that you can adjust the amount of seasoning if the spice level is too intense for your liking.
Step 4. Fold and roll: This is a wonderful chance to have some assistance with dinner preparation, including from the kids. Scoop roughly 1/4 cup of the meat mixture and put it in the center of every cabbage leaf. Mold the filling into a log or thick cigar shape, then wrap and fold the cabbage leaf around it, similar to how you would assemble a burrito. Repeat this process nine more times until you have made a total of 10 cabbage rolls.
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