Kittencal's Cabbage Rolls With Tomato Sauce
- Reviews 24
Ready In: 3 hrs 40 mins
Yields: 16-20 cabbage rolls
Ingredients
- 2 large head green cabbage (frozen then completely thawed)
- 1⁄2 cup sauerkraut, hand-squeezed out to remove excess moisture (optional or adjust to taste)
MEAT FILLING
- 1 lb lean uncooked ground beef
- 1 lb lean uncooked ground pork (or use 2 pounds lean ground beef or 1 lb each seasoned bulk pork sausage and ground beef)
- 1⁄2 cup grated parmesan cheese (optional but good to add in for for extra flavor)
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder (or use 2 tablespoons fresh minced garlic)
- 2 teaspoons seasoning salt
- 1 -2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper (or to taste)
- 1⁄2-3⁄4 cup uncooked instant Minute Rice (can increase to 1 cup)
- 3⁄4 cup tomato sauce
SAUCE
- 1 (10 ounce) can condensed tomato soup, undiluted
- 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped
- 2 teaspoons seasoning salt
- 1⁄2 teaspoon lemon juice (fresh or bottled)
- 1⁄2-1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper (I like to also add in some cayenne pepper also for a little heat)
Directions
- Set oven to 350 degrees F (second-lowest oven rack).
- Grease a 13 x 9-inch baking pan or use a larger pan (for easier clean up I strongly advise to use a disposable heavy foil pan).
- Make certain that the cabbage heads are completely thawed before using for this (to do this remove the heads of cabbage from freezer and place in a bowl then thaw at room temperature overnight).
- Using a small sharp knife carefully remove the hard core/stem from the center of the head, then remove the leaves from the cabbage (you may need to keep slicing off some middle part to remove the leaves easier).
- To speed up cooking time you may want to cook the leaves in boiling salted water for about 8-10 minutes this will give the cabbage rolls a head start and reduce cooking time slightly.
- Using your hands gently squeeze out 2 to 3 leaves at a time to remove excess water, then place the leaves in a large bowl; set aside.
- FOR MEAT FILLING; using clean hands mix all ingredients together for the meat filling in large bowl until thoroughly combined.
- FOR SAUCE; in another bowl combine all sauce ingredients together until blended (adjust the salt and pepper to taste).
- Line the bottom of the pan with cabbage leaves (due to the long cooking time this will protect the rolls from over browning/burning in the pan while cooking, you may also place leaves on top of the sauce then cover with foil but that is optional).
- Using a large spoon or a ladle drizzle half of the sauce over the leaves then spread out to cover the leaves (does not have to cover the leaves completely).
- Stuff the cabbage leaves tightly but carefully with the meat mixture (I use about 1/3-cup for larger leaves).
- Roll up tightly and place the rolls in a single layer on top of the cabbage leaves and sauce in the baking dish.
- Drizzle the remaining sauce over the rolls (using a butter knife separate the rolls slightly to insure the sauce settles between and around each roll).
- Sprinkle about 1/2 cup or a little more sauerkraut over the sauce (if using).
- At this point you may cover the rolls with more leaves if desired (this is optional but good to do).
- Cover tightly with foil.
- IMPORTANT; if you are using a 13 x 9-inch dish it will be very full so place on a large jelly-roll pan to catch any spills.
- Cook at 350 degrees F (oven rack set to second-lowest position) for about 2-1/2 to 3 hours or until the cabbage is very tender, the cooking time will vary depending on how thick the cabbage leaves are and if you have pre-boiled the leaves firstly, I usually check after about 2 hours).
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