Makes 8-12 cabbage rolls. Serves 4.
2 T butter
½ cup diced onion
1 tsp garlic minced
Dash of salt and pepper
15 oz can diced tomatoes
15 oz can tomato sauce
2 T brown sugar
1 T apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup rice
2/3 cup water
1 pound ground pork
½ cup onion
1 tsp garlic minced
1 tsp salt
1 tsp lemon pepper
2 T parsley
1 egg
1 head cabbage
Small sauce pan to cook rice.
Large sauce pan to cook tomato sauce.
Large skillet to blanch cabbage leaves.
8x12 pan or dutch oven
Bring rice and water to boil in sauce pan. Turn down heat to simmer and cover with lid. Cook over medium low heat for 20 minutes. Turn off and let cool somewhat.
While rice is cooking, melt butter in a large sauce pan. Add onion, garlic and brown for five minutes, until onion is glassy. Add salt, pepper, the juice from the diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, brown sugar and vinegar to the onion mix and cook over low heat while assembling the cabbage rolls. Stir occasionally; cover and turn heat off if it starts getting too dry.
Pour the rest of the can of diced tomatoes in the bottom of a casserole dish.
Once the sauce is simmering, turn attention to cabbage. Using a sharp knife cut the core of the stem out. Carefully peel back the leaves one at a time, trying not to tear them. 8-12 leaves will be needed, depending on size. Cut the major vein out from the bottom, in a wedge shape. In a skillet, start about an inch of water boiling with 1 tsp salt. One at a time, add the cabbage leaves to the water, waiting for them to wilt down into the water. Turn over after a minute or so to make sure all parts of the leaf get blanched. Move the limp leaf to a plate before adding the next leaf to the water. The leaves can make a relatively neat stack to wait for the next step.
Mix the ground pork, the cooked rice, ½ cup of the tomato sauce mixture, the rest of the onion and garlic, salt, lemon pepper, parsley and an egg together. Pour half the remaining tomato sauce mixture over the tomatoes in the bottom of the dutch oven or 8x12 pan.
Divide into approximately equal amounts – enough for the number of cabbage leaves you have blanched. One division of pork mix gets placed into each cabbage leaf center. Fold the rest of the leaf around the mixture and secure with a toothpick. Place each cabbage roll seam side down on the bed of tomato sauce in the pan, or stack if needed.
Pour the rest of the tomato sauce over the cabbage rolls. Cover the pan with the lid or with foil. Bake at 350 F for an hour.
The rest of the cabbage will probably make good cole slaw.
