Cabbage rolls / Koolrolletjes

Stuffed cabbage rolls

1 lg. head green cabbage, ugly leaves removed, peel and set aside 15 or so of the good leaves. chop a part of the lighter core in very thin stripes and use in filling.

Filling:
1 large minced onion
1 tbsp. oil
350 gr ground beef

1 cup/handful chopped cabbage
1 large carrot, in very thin stripes
fresh koriander
1.5 ts cumin seeds (roasted in a dry skillet)
1 red bell pepper
pepper/salt

1 egg, (whisked with a fork)
1/2 cup left over breadcrumb filling (see this recipe) *

Sauce (optional):
2 tbsp. oil
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 tbsp. whole wheat flour
2 c. fresh or canned tomatoes, chopped
1 cup tomato juice/vegetable stock
pepper/salt

To make the filling, saute onion in oil, add ground beef, vegetables, and seasonings. (any crunchy vegetable will do, like celery or leek, chopped.). Stir with a fork and saute for 5 minutes. Turn of the heat and let cool for a couple of minutes. When the mixture has cooled sufficiently, add egg and breadcrumb filling, stir and set aside. (Egg and breadcrumb will keep the filling together when steamed or baked).

To make sauce, saute onion in oil until soft. Stir in flour and cook 2 or 3 minutes. Gradually add tomatoes or stock and flavour with pepper and salt, stirring constantly. Lower heat and let simmer for another 30 minutes.

Blanch the reserved outer leaves for 3-5 minutes in boiling water. Drain on a towel and remove core with a sharp knife.

Place 2 to 3 tbs of the meat mixture on the broad side of the leaf. Roll sides of leaf over stuffing; roll up from thick end of the leaf and tuck in the sides as you roll. You can prevent unrolling with a toothpick.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F, if you wish to bake the rolls and combine stuffed rolls and sauce in a large baking dish. Spoon sauce over the bottom and place the stuffed leaves seam-side down over the sauce. If I have a lot of rolls, I prefer to bake them in batches, I like to have them in a single layer in the sauce. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for another 30-45 minutes. Remove toothpicks and serve with sauce.

This time I steamed mine seam side down over boiling water, and omitted the sauce, instead served these in neat slices (toothpicks removed!) with white rice and little dipping bowls of soy sauce mixed with wasabi.

Usually I stir fry cabbage and hide it in a asian inspired dish combined with chicken or shrimp because this family has a severe dislike of cabbage... This time they welcomed the rolls and one of them said: Mam, I don't even notice the flavour of this green lettuce! ....
Wow, isn't that fun honey?

I must admit that they skipped the soy/wasabi and preferred a sweet chili sauce ;) instead.
Another recipe of steamed cabbage rolls you will find here. (Dutch).

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