Moms Naturally

                   Stuffed Cabbage (Mother-in-law Style)              

This recipe is my Mother-in-law’s.  Since she gave it to me, I’ve tweaked it here and there, but the bulk of the recipe has stayed the same. 

Before you begin I have to warn you, you’ll need at least 7 hours for prep and cooking (that’s 1 hour prep and 6 hours to cook.)  Don’t plan to have this for dinner tonight!  

It's not a hard recipie, it just takes time.  My husband and I have started to make this together, it's a lot more fun (and faster!) with two people! 

The good thing is it makes a ton, which can be frozen for a later date. 

It’s a great make ahead dinner and can live on as leftovers for the week to come!  

If you have the time, give it a chance, it’s really worth the effort!

Ingredients:

2 medium heads, green cabbage

3 - 26 oz. cans of organic tomato soup or a mild tomato sauce

Several cups of water, left over from boiling the cabbage

2 ½ lbs lean ground beef

2 lbs ground sausage or pork

1 large white onion, diced

1½ cups uncooked organic White Jasmine rice

1Tbl. Salt

1 tsp. ground black pepper

2 Tbls. Parsley flakes

1 Tbl. Granulated garlic or garlic powder

Directions:

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil (about half full)

2. Core both heads of cabbage and discard the outer layer of leaves.  Place cabbage in the boiling water.  Let cabbage cook until the leaves begin to soften and can easily be peeled off, reserve the water.  

3. Place softened leaves in a bowl to drain and cool.  When the leaves are cool enough to touch, use a knife to cut the center vein from the leaf (this will make it easier to fill and roll.)

4. Prepare a large oven safe baking dish or roaster.  Pour about 1 cup of soup or sauce in the bottom and line with any of the cabbage leaves that may have ripped or are too small to roll.  Preheat your oven or electric roaster to 350 degrees.

5. Combine your meat, onion, rice, seasonings and about ½ cup of cabbage water in a large bowl.  With your hands (this is where it gets messy!) thoroughly combine all the ingredients. 

6. Begin forming the meat into compact balls, big enough to fit in your palm.  Place the meat ball in the center of a cabbage leaf, tuck the sides in and roll tightly.  Place the cabbage roll on the bed of leaves in the bottom of the roasting pan or baking dish.  Continue forming the meat into balls and rolling the cabbage leaves around them.  Line your rolls tightly together in the bottom of the pan. 

7. When you’ve filled the bottom of the pan, cover the rolls with more ripped leaves and pour 1 cup or more of the soup/sauce over top.  If you have enough room in the pan, begin to place more cabbage rolls on top of the bottom layer, if you’ve run out of room, prep another baking dish in the same manner you did the first. 

8.  When your cabbage rolls are all lined up in the pan and covered with leaves and soup/sauce, top it all off with 1-2 cups of reserved cabbage water.  Cover with a heat safe lid or foil. 

9. Place in preheated oven and cook for 6 hours, checking the progress every 2 hours, it may only take 4 hours depending on the oven. 

Serve hot with mashed potatoes and your favorite veggie!  (We like to drizzle a little bit of the sauce and loose cabbage over the mashed potatoes. Trust me, try it!)