Stuffed Cabbage Rolls

From the kitchen of Joe Valencic

INGREDIENTS:

1# Meat Loaf Mix (Beef, veal, pork)

1 Medium head of green cabbage

1 1/2 t Salt

1/2 t pepper

Garlic powder to taste

1/4 C Fresh minced onion

1 Egg

1/2 C Uncooked white rice

1 Condensed Tomato Soup -- 10 3/4 oz. can (I like Campbell’s soup the best for this recipe, but you can use whatever you want)

DIRECTIONS:

Make rice according to package directions then allow to cool in fridge. Al dente rice is fine.

Pre heat oven to 350 F with rack in the middle position. Fill a stock pot with enough water to cover the cabbage head and bring to a boil. Spray a 9 x 13 glass dish with cooking spray to hold the rolls.

Thoroughly mix cooled rice with all above ingredients except for the soup. Core the head of cabbage and put it into the boiling water for about 5 minutes. Using tongs, remove leaves as they easily come off the head, and immediately run under cold water to stop the cooking process. You just want the leaves to be blanched and starting to get limp, not thoroughly cooked. You will need about 8-12 leaves for this recipe depending on the size of the cabbage.

Fill each leaf with about 2-3 Tablespoons of mixture starting at the base of the leaf. Roll the leaf forwad to cover mixture, then fold in the sides of the leaf and finish rolling forward. A toothpick can be used to hold the roll together if it doesn't want to stay put. Place rolls into greased pan until the pan is filled.

In a separate container mix the tomato soup with 1 can of water, then pour over the cabbage rolls. Cover the pan with aluminum foil and bake for 90 minutes. Serve piping hot with fresh bread. Mashed potatoes make a good side dish with this recipe.

Recipe makes 8-12 rolls. I usually double this recipe and freeze the rest. A large head of cabbage will accommodate the doubled recipe.

If you have a lot of cabbage left over (or if you buy a large head just for this purpose), you can make cabbage potato soup. The water makes excellent vegetable stock. Take balance of cabbage from the water and coarsely chop and put back in water. Take a large sweet onion and coarsely chop it as well. Take about 1 pound of your favorite potato and cut into small cubes (size of your choice). You can also add celery, carrots, turnips or your favorite root veggies. Season with salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste. soup is done when the potatoes are fork tender. Serve with crusty bread and butter. Can be frozen.