Ciao Chow Linda

Stuffed Cabbage Rolls

Author: Ciao Chow Linda

Ingredients

• 1 large head of cabbage

• 1 1/2 pounds -2 pounds ground meat (I like to use a combination of beef, veal and pork)

• 1/2 cup of rice, cooked (I used brown rice, but any kind of rice would work fine)

• 1/4 cup minced onion

• one clove minced garlic

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• salt, pepper to taste

• 1/4 cup minced parsley

• 1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded

• 3/4 cup pecorino cheese, grated, with aa little reserved for sprinkling on the top

• 1 egg, lightly beaten

• homemade tomato sauce (about 2 cups)

Instructions

1. Place the cabbage in the freezer overnight.

2. It will be easy to peel the leaves off without having to boil them first.

3. Peel off the leaves and remove the center, hard rib and discard it (or use it for soup)

4. Boil the 1/2 cup rice in water as per instructions. (It takes longer and more water to cook brown rice)

5. Let the rice cool.

6. Mix the ground meats, the cooled rice, the egg, the cheeses, the parsley and the seasonings.

7. Place a small amount of stuffing in the center of each cabbage leaf, and roll the leaf around the filling.

8. Spread a casserole with some tomato sauce, and place the cabbage rolls into it, seam side down.

9. Fill the casserole completely with the rolls, then cover with tomato sauce, a sprinkling of pecorino cheese.

10. Bake for 50 minutes at 350 degrees, uncovered, then remove the cover and bake another ten minutes.

11. This will allow some of the liquid from the cabbage to evaporate.

12. If the sauce is still too liquid, remove the cabbage rolls from the casserole and reduce the sauce over a burner until thickened.

13. However, sometimes just stirring the liuqidy part of the sauce with the thicker part tin the pan, after you remove the cabbage rolls, will accomplish the same thing.