fitfool

kickandslide started a thread on cabbage roll casseroles that reminded me I had long been meaning to try making stuffed cabbage. I had never eaten stuffed cabbage before but it sounded pretty good to me. Plus I had leftover wonton filling and napa cabbage from making the wontons earlier so I googled for a recipe. Tasted pretty good in the end and took about 30 minutes to prepare (then add 60-90 minutes to cook).

I started with this cabbage roll casserole recipe from cooks.com and then modified it for the stuff I had on hand and wanted to use. Here's the resulting recipe:

1 head cabbage (used napa cabbage since that's what I had at home)
1 lb. ground chuck
1/2 c. uncooked rice
1 sm. onion, grated (diced instead. I just got a pulpy mess when I tried to grate it.)
2 eggs
2 tsp. salt, divided
1/2 tsp. pepper, divided
1 lg. onion, sliced
2 (8 oz.) cans tomato sauce (skipped. didn't want tomatoes in this)
2 (1 1/2 lbs.) tomatoes (skipped. didn't want tomatoes in this)
2 tbsp. lemon juice
1/2 c. brown sugar (I only used 1/4 cup and that still seemed like too much. Maybe would've been ok with the tomatoes)

Remove 12 large leaves from cabbage. Trim off thick part of each leaf. Pour boiling water over leaves and let stand for a few minutes until they are limp and easy to roll.
Combine meat, rice, grated onion, eggs, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Place a mound of meat mixture in the depression of each leaf. Fold over sides of each leaf loosely; roll.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place a few cabbage leaves in bottom of a Dutch oven or large casserole. Add rolls and sliced onions. Pour on mixture of tomato sauce, tomatoes, lemon juice and remaining salt and pepper.
Bring to a boil on top of range. Sprinkle with sugar. Place in oven, covered, and cook for 1 1/2 hours. If top starts to burn or darken, partially cover casserole. Makes 8 servings. I'm not sure why it wants it to cook for so long. Looked done after 1 hour but I let it cook the full 90 minutes just in case