Cabbage Rolls

image from here

Is everyone enjoying mince week as much as I am? Even Poh had a little mince going on this week. This week has even got me looking up new mince recipes, I'm going to try a lebanese inspired meat loaf soon, will keep you posted. But really, a week isn't enough. I didn't post about meat balls, moussaka, dumplings or my awesome chili. But by special request by my dear friend I left back in Irealnd, I am posting my famous (well in our friend circle its famous) cabbage rolls, inspired by Jill.



Cabbage Rolls

 

1 head of cabbage

500g ground meat (pork or chicken)

200g sausages (you can used a smoked one and just dice it or unsmoked and then remove it from its casing. Bacon also works well)

1 zucchini grated

2 carrots grated

1/2 - 1 onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

handful of chopped pasley

1 tbsp paprika

3 cups tomato passata

salt and pepper to taste

sour cream or natural yogurt to serve (optional)

Bring a big pot of salted water to boil. Cut the core out of your head of cabbage, then carefully slide into the boiling water and let cook for about 10 minutes. Remove from boiling water, and run under cold water until cool enough to handle.  Mix minced meat, sausage, zucchini, carrot, parsley, salt, pepper and paprika large bowl, using your hands. Fry the onion and garlic off in a little oil, cool and add to the mince mix. Preheat the oven to 180C. Pour passata into a separate bowl and season. Spread a bit of passata in the bottom of a large oven proof dish. Peel a few leaves off your head of cabbage, and place a hunk of meat-veggie mixture in the middle. Fold over the sides, and roll over away from you. Place seam side down in the dish, and repeat with remaining leaves until you have no more meat mixture left. To speed cooking time up I usually make a few dishes with just one layer of rolls, but you can make more than one layer. Pour the remaining passata over the top, cover with tin foil and bake until meat is cooked through, about an hour depending on how big your tray is and how many layers you have. Serve with sour cream.