Everyday Art Work: Cabbage Rolls Recipe

Cabbage Rolls with tomato sauce, paprika sauce and cabbage noodles.

Cabbage Rolls are one of my grandmother's favorite foods. She loved to go to Sabad's in Norfolk to get them with paprika sauce and a side of cabbage noodles, but Sabad's no longer serves them. The solution....I made them. This is my Cabbage Roll Recipe! (I'll add separate blogs for the sauce and noodles.)

Normally, when I make cabbage rolls, I cook them in the tomato sauce in the oven, but since I'm making 2 sauces, I figured I would make them plain.

I always buy 2 heads of cabbage to make these. I only use one though. Granted, it is the outside of both of them. Don't worry, the insides gets used too as I use them to make the cabbage noodles.

1. The first step is to par-broil the cabbage. Get a big pot and boil the water. Throw in the head of cabbage.

Take tongs and ease the leaves off the cabbage as they wilt. Pile them on a plate or board.

Don't throw out the remaining cabbage as we will use it for cabbage noodles.

Set the remaining cabbage aside for another project.

2. Mix the filling for the cabbage rolls. (I mix it in my big Pampered Chef bowl.) This is the same filling I use for my stuffed peppers.

3 cups raw hamburger
2 cups cooked rice
Salt and pepper
Garlic Powder or Salt. (1-2 tsp.)
2 tsp Italian Seasoning. (I like the Pampered Chef version, of course.)
Chopped up onion or a couple Tbs of dried onion. (I used dry onions today.)

3. Cut the large veins out of the cabbage leaves. This will leave the leaf easier to roll and less tough to chew. Add a spoonful of the meat mixture to each leaf and roll it.

Cut the veins out and add a spoon full of mixture.

First fold the top down toward the cut vein.

Second, Fold the right side in and tuck it a little if needed.

Third Roll the left side around.

The perfectly rolled cabbage roll!!

4. Place the rolls in your baking dishes. This recipe makes about 24-30 rolls. Cover the dishes with foil to keep the moisture in the dishes and put in the oven at 350 degrees for about 40-45 minutes. You can add tomato sauce before baking if you want to (I normally do). I carefully unwrap a roll to make sure they are done.