Cabbage rolls

Cabbage is a winter trend. It is the superhero of the winter! Everywhere I go, there is cabbage looking at me. Among red and green cabbage, kale and Brussels sprouts there is also Savoy cabbage. There are many ways how you can use cabbage all winter long. So this is the moment for cabbage rolls.

Any cabbage that you choose, turns out great when roasted, grilled or braised, in soups, in a tart, as a side or as a cabbage roll. As I mentioned, I picked Savoy cabbage for this recipe. I love its mild flavour and its versatility. Don’t you love cabbage, too?

These cabbage rolls are a low-carb variation of the traditional sarma rolls, which are made with fermented cabbage leaves. The Savoy cabbage rolls are easy and quick to make and even easier to eat. He he he. Moreover, cabbage roll is stuffed with minced meat and rice, only meat or only rice.

However, I combined minced meat with oatmeal. The oatmeal replaces the rice and gives a nice texture to the cabbage rolls stuffing. How many times you use oatmeal for your breakfast, in granola, in your cookies…but you have never thought of adding it to meat, right? Well, welcome to the club. He he.

There is a shop here in Hamburg, which I like very much. I am talking about Kölln Haferland. In other words, “the land of oatmeal.” They use oatmeal in everything. For instance, they put it in salads, bread, cookies, yoghurt bowls, cakes, pies and so on. I like that idea a lot.

Going back to the cabbage rolls recipe, I used wooden skewers to keep the rolls in place. Moreover, I put 2 skewers (parallel) through 2-4 cabbage rolls. It all depends on the size. It’s not a must, but I found it very practical when you need to brown the rolls and keep them in place.

To sum up, you’ll need the most wanted winter vegetable, the cabbage, plus some oatmeal, meat, tomato and don’t forget the wooden skewers. Also, you will need a frying pan and a baking dish. Yes, the cabbage rolls go from the stove to the oven. Are you ready to roll?

Ingredients for 10-12 cabbage rolls:

• 20-24 Savoy cabbage leaves (2 leaves for each roll)
• 400 g minced meat (beef and pork)
• 4-5 Tbsp oatmeal
• 1 onion (chopped)
• 1 garlic clove (chopped)
• salt and pepper
• 1 egg
• 1 Tbsp of mustard
• olive oil
• 400 ml tomato sauce

First of all, carefully remove the cabbage leaves from the Savoy cabbage head (keep the “bad” leaves; you will see later why), wash them and cut out the tough stem. Then put them into a larger pan (I stack them in piles of 4) and cover with 1 cm of warm water. Cover with a lid and let it simmer for 2-3 minutes. Don’t overcook it or the leaves will break easily.

In the meantime, prepare some paper towels and a larger bowl with cold water. Transfer the blanched cabbage leaves into the cold water. This will stop the cooking process and help to keep the green colour. Then place them carefully on the paper towels to drain. You might need to tap them gently to remove all the water.

Furthermore, for the cabbage rolls stuffing, mix minced meat, oatmeals, onion, garlic, mustard, egg, salt and pepper. I always use my hands to combine well all the ingredients. Prepare the cabbage leaves; two leaves (one on top of the other) for each roll.

Place the stuffing in the middle of the leaves. Be generous with it, but make sure you will still be able to close the roll. How to fold the roll? I folded in the sides of the leaves and then rolled it. Once all the cabbage rolls are ready, stuff them on two skewers (you can see in the pictures). If the rolls are big, take two rolls, if they are small use three or four together.

Preheat the oven to 160º C. Drizzle some olive oil in a larger frying pan and when it gets hot, put in the cabbage roll skewers. Brown them for a couple of minutes on each side. Furthermore, drizzle some olive oil in the baking dish, add the tomato sauce, season well and put the cabbage rolls in it. Remember the “bad” leaves? Lay them over the cabbage rolls in order to prevent them from burning. By the way, we ate also those. They were like cabbage chips.

Put in the oven and bake for 45 minutes.

Serve these delicious cabbage rolls (don’t forget to remove the wooden skewers) when still steamy and hot. Finally, you can enjoy this winter pleasure that you’ve been craving all year long.

Enjoy!
 

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