Stuffed Cabbage Recipe

 This is a Ukrainian version of stuffed cabbage. It's a recipe that probably not very familiar to american public, this is however one of the typical dishes we used to make in Ukraine in winter. It's easy to make and makes many meals at once. You will need:

1 large cabbage - check to make sure that there are no cuts through the leaves because you'll need them whole.

1 package of ground pork. You can use ground beef too of course but it taste better with pork.

1 small onion finely chopped.

salt, pepper, Worcestershire sauce, paprika and cayenne to taste

1 small can of tomato paste - 6oz

1 cup of rice.

stock or broth.

Take your cabbage and remove the core - be careful not to damage leaves. If it's your first time removing core start with small cuts and expand in circles. Put whole cabbage in a pot with cold water and bring to boil. Cook on medium heat for about 5 minutes, loosening leaves off the cabbage as it becomes soft. Once the leaves start to look semi-pliable and more translucent then you can remove them from the pot. Don't over cook them or they'll start falling apart on you! Set them on a plate and let cool down few minutes so you can handle without burning yourself.

In a small bowl, combine ground pork, chopped onion and cooked rice together. I always use ratio of 2/3 meat to 1/3 semi-cooked rice, but in the old times at home when meat was a rare commodity it was more rice and less meat. Either way it will taste good. I pre-cook rice separately until it's almost ready but still al dente. Season with salt and pepper and add few dashes of Worcestershire sauce to make it more juicy. You can add some soy sauce and less salt if you like (which is what I do) to keep it healthier. If you like spicier add a dash of cayenne and paprika pepper. Add 1/2 of small can of tomato paste and mix it all very well until it's all uniform. I use hands to mix because it's easier. Spoon works too but takes longer. And yes, it gets messy :)

Take your cabbage leaves and with a paring knife carefully trim the bulging part of the stem from each of the leaf from the middle of the leaf toward the fat end. Be careful not to cut the leaf itself. This will help you bend it easier without snapping, plus stem is not very tasty so you want to cut it out. Then take a spoonful of the filling and place it in the middle of the leaf. Fold the end that had the stem to cover the filling, then fold both sides toward the middle and then fold the top - making it like a small envelope. Do that with all large leaves and as many smaller ones as you can muster. It can get hard working with small leaves so don't get frustrated. Just set them aside.

Take the same pot that you used before for your cabbage and drain that water. Place all remaining unused cabbage leaves on the very bottom of the pot - this will serve as a protection barrier and will keep your stuffed cabbage from burning. Now place each stuffed envelope on the bottom of the pan in even layers - with the seam side down so they don't start opening up. Make sure that the top layer is even. Take a small plate that would fit into the pot and place it upside down on top of your envelopes. Then take either broth, veggie stock or just water and mix it with remaining tomato paste and pour into the pot, making sure that everything is covered with the liquid. I usually use 1/2 chicken broth and 1/2 beef broth for taste but when I don't have either water works just fine. Add couple of bay leaves. Please a cup of water on top of the plate to weight it down - otherwise it all starts to float, unwraps and makes one giant mess. Bring it all to boil and cook on slow heat for about an hour.

Carefully remove them from the pot, put a dollop of sour cream on top and enjoy.

p.s. if you have too much filling remaining afterwards, you can add one egg and some breadcrumbs and make them into meatballs and then cook in the same sauce that was left after your cabbage leaves were done.