Stuffed Cabbage Leaves

Happy weekend everyone! Today I am sharing with you one of my most special holiday recipes – stuffed cabbage leaves. This a hearty and filling dish, with pickled Bulgarian cabbage leaves (imported), rice, veggies and meat! They will not only fill your tummy but your heart as well. 🙂 It is a must try!

This recipe makes about 12-15 large stuffed leaves. 

TIME: 1 Hour Prep | 1 Hr 20 Mins Cooking

*Signifies an Organic Ingredient

Ingredients: 

• 1 Jar of Zergut Cabbage Leaves or Similar Here (from this type you will need 2-3 Jars). You can also find the Zergut Cabbage Leaves from Bulgaria in most ethnic stores.
• 1.25 lbs Ground Pork (or you can cook these vegetarian – just don’t add in the meat)
• 1 Small Yellow Onion*
• 4 Carrots* – 5 Carrots for Vegetarian version
• 2 Medium Gold Potatoes* – 3 Medium Gold Potatoes for Vegetarian version
• 3/4 Cup Jasmine Rice – 1 Cup Rice for Vegetarian version
• 2 Ripe Tomatoes* (for sauce) or 1 cup of cherry tomatoes*
• 8 Brown Cremini Mushrooms*
• 2 Celery Sticks*
• 1/2 Tablespoon Spearmint*
• 1 Tablespoon Savory
• 1 Tablespoon Paprika*
• 3 Tablespoons Salt
• 1 Tablespoon Black Pepper
• 2 Bay Leaves
• 1 Teaspoon Cumin
• 1/3 Cup Olive Oil
• 1 Cup Drinking Water

Stuffing Preparation:

1. Start by placing the rice in a bowl and soak it with drinking water for about 30 minutes.
2. Wash all vegetables then peel the carrots and potatoes.
3. Mince the onion and place it in a 3 Quart Saucepan with cover. See image below for cutting sizes (tiny):
   
4. Chop the carrots into small cubes and place them in the same pan. Remember, you will be using these ingredients to stuff, so everything needs to be chopped small. See image above:
5. Chop the potatoes into small cubes and add to pan. See image above:
6. Chop the mushrooms into small pieces and add to pan. See image above:
7. Grate your tomato for sauce, or if you’re using small cherry tomatoes like me, simply slice them in half. Add to pan.
   
8. Strain and rinse out the rice, then add rice to the pan.
9. Add 1 cup drinking water to the pan, add in the olive oil, peppermint/spearmint, savory, paprika, salt, pepper, bay leaves, cumin and place on burner. Stir everything well. Turn heat to medium high. 

Pre-Cooking:

1. Wash out the celery sticks and cut them into 3 pieces each and throw into the pan. Stir and cover with lid. Keep heat on medium-high. Cook for 10 minutes, then remove lid. Cook an additional 5 minutes.
2. After cooking for 15 minutes add in the ground pork, and stir it well until its all spread evenly with the rice, vegetables and spices.
3. After letting the pork cook in the pot for 5 minutes (basically the time it takes to stir it in well enough), turn off the heat and place pan on a heat pad next to where you will be stuffing the cabbage leaves.

Preparation:

1. Place a cutting board in front of you where you can lay the leaves out flat.
2. Open the jar and carefully remove the leaves from the jar. Carefully open them up and place them flat in a 2″ deep baking dish. Now rinse them under cold water to drain out the extra salt and sourness. Drain out the water and place next to your cutting board.
3. Lay out a single leaf, open, flat on your cutting board. See image below.
4. Place 1-3 tablespoons (depending on size of leaf) of stuffing onto the center-top part of the cabbage leaf. Don’t include bay leaves or celery onto cabbage leaf. Place these inside the pan/roaster you will be using to cook/bake. See Image above:
5. Now wrap it like you would wrap a burrito; carefully pull the top part of leaf towards you, then tuck in from both sides, and roll through to the bottom of the leaf. Place cabbage (burrito-like) roll into a traditional Bulgarian clay pot to bake or you can choose to do it the stove top way – you will need a deep saute pan. Make sure place it so that the bottom of the cabbage flap is facing down providing pressure so the stuffing doesn’t come out while cooking. Do the rolling delicately, rice expands when cooked so don’t roll too tightly.
6. Arrange these rolls snug next to one another in the clay pot or saute pan. You can stack them too once you’ve filled up the bottom row.
7. After stuffing all your leaves, add in enough drinking water to cover the cabbage leaves to the top with water.

Cooking:

1. If you chose the clay pot to bake, place it into oven covered, set temperature to 400 Fahrenheit and bake for 1 Hour 15 Minutes. Take off lid at 1 Hour and let the top get a little golden for the extra 15 minutes.
2. If you chose the deep saute pan, place it onto a large burner, cover with lid and turn up to medium high. Once you’ve reached a boil, turn heat to medium-low and let cook for an additional 1hr to 1hour 15 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.
3. Serve carefully with a large serving spoon and enjoy this deliciousness!!
   

Happy Holidays!

Thank you for stopping by! xx, Adelina