STUFFED CABBAGE ROLLS-OLD POLISH RECIPE

Stuffed Cabbage Rolls-Old Polish Recipe image

Provided by My Food and Family

Categories Home

Time 3h45m

Number Of Ingredients 12

Ingredients

2 medium cabbages, cored
2 lb ground round or chuck
1 large onion
2 stalk s celery, coarsely chopped
1 cup raw long-grain white rice (not converted)
2 large eggs
2 Tbsp dried parsley flakes
1/2 tsp garlic salt
Salt & ground black pepper
1 lb sauerkraut, from a bag, drained and rinsed
1 can (28-oz.) crushed tomatoes, divided
2 cups tomato juice, divided

Steps:

Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat and add a cabbage. Reduce heat slightly and blanch cabbage, turning a few times, about 5 minutes, until leaves begin loosening and look translucent. With cabbage in water, use long-handled fork or tongs to pull off leaves as they loosen. Remove what's left of cabbage and repeat with other cabbage. Don't discard inner leaves or broken leaves. Reserve water. Let cabbage cool.
In large bowl or tub, put ground beef, onion, celery, rice, eggs, parsley flakes, garlic salt, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Mix well with hands, adding 1/4 cup water if mixture feels "tight".
With paring knife, trim thick cores from outer sides of cabbage leaves. Coarsely chop smaller leaves and cabbage; strew half in bottom of an 18x10x3 inch heavy-duty foil roasting pan. Pour reserved cabbage water over sauerkraut in a colander to rinse more, if you like. Drain well. Strew half the kraut over cabbage in pan. Pour in half the crushed tomatoes and 1 cup tomato juice. Season with salt & pepper, mix well.
For rolls, shape about 1/4 cup meat into a sausage (not too tight) for a large leaf; less for a smaller leaf. Use your hand as a cup to shape rolls, with curved side of leaf facing your palm and core end towards your wrist. Put filling on the bottom of the leaf, and fold the bottom over the filling, pressing in. Fold in the sides, pressing and rolling, but not too tight, not worrying if leaf breaks. Filled leaves are placed seam-side down in pan, in even rows, 5 or 6 across, making 25 to 28 rolls. Strew remaining chopped cabbage (chop any unused leaves) and sauerkraut over the rolls. Top with remaining crushed tomatoes and tomato juice. Salt & pepper generously. Rinse crushed tomato can with about 1/2 can water. Pour water over top; don't worry about mixing it. Cover pan tightly with foil.
Bake in 325-degrees F oven for 1 hour, check after 30 minutes to be sure it is bubbling. If not, turn oven to 350-degrees F. After 1 hour, reduce temperature to 250 degrees F. Bake 1 to 1 1/2 hours longer, until rolls are tender & meat & rice fully cooked-cut one open to check. You can add small amounts of water periodically if needed.

Nutrition Facts : Calories 0 g, Fat 0 g, SaturatedFat 0 g, TransFat 0 g, Cholesterol 0 g, Sodium 0 g, Carbohydrate 0 g, Fiber 0 g, Sugar 0 g, Protein 0 g