Stuffed Cabbage with Tomato Gravy

My version of this tried and true comfort dish is laced, well, maybe more like swimming (you can never have enough sauce) in a perfectly balanced sweet and sour tomato gravy that comes together with a few pantry staples.

If you’re a regular visitor you already know that I’m a HUGE fan of meatloaf and in my book, stuffed cabbages are just another version of my beloved meatloaf. They take a little more time, but are worth the effort.

I was introduced to stuffed cabbages when I was a small child. My job was to help my grandmother roll the baby meatloaves into cabbage leaves and line them up in neat rows in the casserole dish. This memory comes back to me every time I make these and I still line them up all tidy.

I never questioned where this recipe came from, until now - Which begged me to ask... Who brought this recipe to Hawaii? I know it wasn't my ancestors because they're Chinese and this is clearly not a Chinese recipe.

If you have a memory of sweet sour stuffed cabbage this might be the recipe that you have been looking for.

My notes to you...

• Buy the biggest cabbage you can find to get as many large leaves as possible. You will need 12 for this recipe

• Plan ahead. Day old cold rice is the best, so make this after a meal that you eat with rice and put 1 1/2 cups on the side. If that's not an option, cook and cool rice before adding it to the meat mixture.

In my opinion, uncooked rice is not a good option because it’s hard to tell if the rice is fully cooked - possibly leaving hard pieces of rice in your filling.  The other thing is that uncooked rice will need extra liquid and can absorb all of your gravy during the cooking.

• Depending on how much time I have will determine how I prep for this dish. The tomato gravy can be made a few days in advance and the cabbage leaves can also be prepped a couple days ahead. With those two things out of the way, making stuffed cabbage is really quick.

• Keep the inner part of the cabbage to add to another meal or cut it into wedges and place it on the bottom of your pan under your cabbage rolls for those that want a little more cabbage.

• Instead of all beef, you can use 1 pound of ground beef and 1 pound of ground pork.

• Stuffed Cabbages freeze well. I usually pack them in 2's for a quick one serving meal.

• The tomato gravy is also wonderful on stuffed peppers, meatloaf or baked chicken.

• If you prefer brown gravy instead, take a look at my Easy Brown GravyRecipe

STUFFED CABBAGE

1 large cabbage
1 recipe of Tomato Gravy (recipe below)

STUFFING

2 pounds ground beef

½ cup dried bread crumbs (plain or seasoned)

1 ½ cups cooked rice (day old rice is best)

¼ cup water

1 whole egg

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp. kosher salt

½ tsp. black pepper

PREP THE CABBAGE: Bring a large pot of water to a boil. With a paring knife remove the core. Place the whole cabbage in the boiling water and gently remove one cabbage leaf at a time with a tong and place on the side. You will need 12 cabbage leaves.

MAKE THE STUFFING: Place the bread crumbs, cooked rice, salt and pepper in a large bowl and mix rubbing the bread crumbs between your hands with the rice to separate the rice pieces.

Add ground beef, egg and water; mix to blend ingredients evenly. Divide meat into 12 meatballs (about 1/2 cup each).

WRAP THE STUFFED CABBAGE: Remove the tough outer vein from the bottom of each cabbage leaf and discard.

Put a portion of meat (squeeze it into a log shape) into the lower half of a cabbage leaf and fold the bottom over the filling.

Then fold in both sides and roll the filling away from you to wrap the filling completely in the cabbage leaf.

Place the cabbage roll seam side down in an oven proof pot or casserole dish that has about 1 cup of tomato gravy on the bottom (see next step)

COOK: Pour the rest of the tomato gravy over the cabbage rolls; cover and bake in a 350 degree oven for about 1 hour and 15 minutes or until the meat is cooked and cabbage is tender.

TOMATO GRAVY (makes 3 cups)

This can be made a few days ahead of time and held in the fridge.

2 Tbsp. oil

1 large onion, finely diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

15 oz. can Italian stewed tomatoes or ready cut

8 oz. can tomato sauce

¼ cups brown sugar, packed

2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar

½ tsp. kosher salt

¼ tsp. black pepper

In a sauce pan over med heat add oil, onions and garlic and cook until onions are soft. When the onions are soft add salt, pepper, brown sugar and red wine vinegar. Bring to a boil; stir in stewed tomatoes (breaking them up with your spoon) and the tomato sauce. Bring back to a boil; lower heat and simmer for 10 minutes.