Best Basmati Rice Stuffed Cabbage Recipes

RICE-STUFFED CABBAGE

Steps:

• Make the cabbage: Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Remove 4 or 5 unblemished outer leaves from cabbage, and reserve. Add cabbage head and 2 tablespoons salt to pot. Cover and simmer, flipping once, until tender, about 45 minutes. Transfer cabbage to work surface, then add reserved leaves to pot, and cook until bright green and tender but not mushy, about 3 minutes. Spread in a single layer on paper towels to drain.
• Make the filling: Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Add rice and 1/4 teaspoon salt, and simmer until tender, about 15 minutes. Drain, rinse rice with cold water, and drain again. Toss with 2 tablespoons oil in a large bowl.
• Place currants in a small bowl, and add enough warm water to cover. Let stand until plump, about 15 minutes.
• Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add chard stems and 1/2 teaspoon salt, and cook, stirring occasionally, for 3 minutes. Add water, and simmer until tender, about 12 minutes. Add onion, and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
• Heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chard leaves, and cook until barely wilted and bright green, about 2 minutes. Add spinach, and cook until wilted and bright green, about 2 minutes more. Remove from heat. Let cool for 10 minutes.
• To assemble: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut out stem from cooked cabbage, and discard. Using a spoon, scoop out inside of cabbage, leaving a 1/2-inch-thick shell. Squeeze out excess liquid from scooped cabbage, and coarsely chop insides, then stir into rice. Dry cabbage shell.
• Stir together the spinach mixture, chard stems, currants, apricots, pine nuts, parsley, eggs, vinegar, 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper into rice mixture.
• Lightly oil a rimmed baking sheet. Fill cabbage shell with rice mixture. Place on a clean kitchen towel, and gather ends of towel around cabbage, squeezing gently to form a round shape and remove excess liquid. Remove towel, and flip stuffed cabbage, open side down, onto baking sheet. Rub butter over entire surface of cabbage, and bake until heated through, about 30 minutes.
• Drape reserved cabbage leaves over stuffed head, overlapping, to cover. Smooth leaves down and tuck underneath cabbage. Cut into wedges, and serve immediately.

STUFFED CABBAGE

Steps:

• For the sauce: In a large bowl, combine the crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, salt, red chili flakes (if using), brown sugar, and red wine vinegar. With a microplane, grate the clove of garlic into the sauce and stir well to combine. (Alternatively, you can very finely chop the garlic.)
• For the filling: Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cut out the core from the base of the cabbage and remove the 1-2 outer leaves. Place the cabbage cut side down into the pot of boiling water. As you see leaves naturally start to separate from the head of cabbage, gently coax the leaf off with a pair of tongs and transfer it to a colander set over a bowl. You will need about 14 cabbage leaves. This process takes about 6-8 minutes. Rinse the leaves with cold water until cool enough to handle. Drain well and pat dry with a clean kitchen towel.
• Place the cabbage leaves on a cutting board and make a V-shaped cut at the bottom of each leaf, to cut out the thickest part of the center rib.
• In a large bowl, combine the ground beef, pork, onion, egg, milk or cream, breadcrumbs, rice, parsley, salt and pepper. Mix gently to combine.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-inch-by-13-inch casserole dish. Ladle 1 cup of sauce into the dish and spread all over. Starting with the largest, outer cabbage leaves, lay each cabbage leaf flat. Take about 1/3 cup of filling and roughly shape it into an oval shape, about 4-inches long. (For some of the larger leaves, use up to ½ cup of filling.) Place the oval in the center a cabbage leaf, just above where the rib was cut. Fold the sides of the cabbage leaf over the filling and roll up into a little bundle (start rolling at the cut side, over into the uncut side). Place seam side down over top of the sauce in the baking dish. Repeat until each cabbage leaf is used. Drizzle the remainder of the sauce all over.
• Cover tightly with foil and bake for 1 hour and 30 minutes, until the meat is cooked through. Serve with a side of mashed potatoes, if you like.

STUFFED CABBAGE WITH BEEF AND RICE

Steps:

• In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook cabbage, turning often, until tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Drain and, with tongs, gently separate leaves. Cut out thick ribs from 8 to 10 of the largest leaves and set leaves aside. Shred remaining cabbage and place in an 8-inch square baking dish set on a baking sheet.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a medium saucepan, heat oil over medium-high. Add onion and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and stir until fragrant, 1 minute. Transfer half the onion mixture to a large bowl. Add tomatoes, sugar, and vinegar to saucepan, season with salt and pepper, and bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes. Spread 1 cup tomato sauce on top of shredded cabbage in dish.
• To bowl with onion mixture, add rice, ground beef, and egg and season with salt and pepper. With your hands, mix well, then divide into 8 portions. Working with a few leaves at a time, lay cabbage on a work surface, overlapping smaller leaves to form one larger leaf if necessary. Place a portion of beef in the center of each. Fold bottom half of cabbage over filling, then fold in sides and roll up tightly. Transfer cabbage rolls, seam side down, to baking dish. Top with remaining sauce, cover dish with foil, and bake on sheet 40 minutes. Remove foil and bake until sauce is bubbling, about 10 minutes.