Cabbage stuffed cabbage: how to cook? Video

There are many versions of the origin of stuffed cabbage. There is an opinion that this dish originated from crepinet, which means “scraping”. This dish was served in France in the XNUMXth century. Pigeons or quails were roasted whole on a rasp or grater (grate) over coals. At the beginning of the XNUMXth century, Russia learned about this method of cooking poultry, and chefs began to cook pigeons everywhere. At the same time in Europe, chefs invented false crepe – fried minced meat wrapped in a fat net. It was this kind of delivery that later received the name “cabbage rolls” in our country.

Some historians are convinced that minced meat in cabbage leaves was prepared in ancient Greece. In the comedy of Aristophanes back in the XNUMXth century. BC. one of the characters says: “Serve me cabbage leaves with meat!” There is a version that cabbage rolls are of Caucasian origin. Muslims often cook dolma – minced lamb with rice wrapped in grape leaves. This filling can be replaced by vegetables or millet, it all depends on the imagination of the cook.

Instead of white cabbage, you can use Savoy or Peking cabbage

The secret of making stuffed cabbage lies in giving softness to cabbage, the leaves of which are blanched in hot salted water, thus bringing them to an elastic state. V.V. Pokhlebkin in his encyclopedia suggests another way: you need to wrap the leaves in foil and hold them in the oven for 5–7 minutes. This will preserve not only the juiciness and strength of the cabbage leaves, but also improve the taste of the vegetable.

Cabbage rolls are a dish that can be served both hot and as a cold snack. For example, mushrooms, cottage cheese, vegetables, nuts and even dried fruits will completely replace meat. They can be fried, baked, stewed in various sauces, steamed, cooked on a wire rack.

It is not at all difficult to wrap the filling in a cabbage leaf, you need to unfold it, beat off the thick part with a kitchen hammer or just cut it out with a knife. If you want to fry cabbage rolls before baking or stewing, you should first roll them in flour and then put them in a hot pan. The dish can be prepared in the classic version, or you can use a simpler recipe and make lazy cabbage rolls.

Before preparing cabbage rolls, you need to take the following products:

– white cabbage; – 300 g ground beef; – 200 g minced pork; – 100 g of rice; – 200 g of carrots; – 2 pcs. onions; – 2 tomatoes; – vegetable oil; – salt; – 150 g sour cream; – ground black pepper; – flour; – 50 g tomato paste.

Pour water into a saucepan, put the container on medium heat and boil. Gently dip the cabbage into the liquid, season with salt, cook for 10-15 minutes. Then put the vegetable on a sieve, let the water drain completely, and then disassemble it into individual leaves. Tough stems should be softened with a hoe or cut with a knife.

The stuffing for cabbage rolls does not have to be meat, you can use mushrooms or vegetables to your liking

Mix the minced meat, salt, add pepper. Grate the carrots, chop the onion into small cubes, chop the tomatoes in the same way. Mix the ingredients with the meat. On cabbage leaves you need to spread two tablespoons of the filling, fold, giving an oblong shape. Pour flour into a small plate, roll cabbage rolls in it, and then put them in a hot frying pan. Fry on both sides, and then put in a deep heat-resistant container, pressing firmly against each other.

Preparing the fill is easy. To do this, you need to combine sour cream and tomato paste. Pour this mixture over cabbage rolls. Typically, such a mixture is diluted with distilled, bottled, or filtered water. After that, the dish can be baked in the oven for 30–40 minutes or simmered over low heat for about 1,5 hours. Serve on the table along with the sauce in which the cabbage rolls were prepared.

Cooking cabbage rolls can take quite a bit of time if you make them in a simpler version. For this you will need:

– 400 g of cabbage; – 500 g minced meat; – 200 g of boiled rice; – 2 onions; – 250 g of 10% sour cream; – 250 g tomato paste; – bread crumbs; – salt; – pepper; – vegetable oil.

According to this recipe, you need to separate the leaves from the cabbage head, cut them into plates no more than 1,5 cm wide and long. After that, transfer the vegetable to a bowl, pour boiling water over and leave for 10 minutes. Then the liquid must be drained, and the cabbage must be squeezed out.

White or red onions must be chopped into cubes, mixed with minced meat, rice, salt and seasoned with pepper. Combining these ingredients with cabbage, you need to form oval cutlets and fry them in vegetable oil until a golden crust is obtained.