I know, I know; I already wrote about cabbage. But you see, I told you I was making cabbage rolls before but I didn’t give you my recipe… and I think my cabbage rolls are killer enough to warrant a recipe post. I deviated from a traditional cabbage roll just enough to keep things interesting.

Cabbage Roll Ingredients
12 large cabbage leaves
1 pound of ground beef (I personally prefer non-lean ground beef.)
1/2 yellow onion, finely chopped
3/4 cup of medium-grain dry rice (I prefer calrose rice for this dish.)
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup of milk
1-1/2 tsp of ajwain seeds (If you don’t have ajwain seeds, you can substitute with caraway seeds.)
1-1/2 tsp of salt
1 tsp of pepper

Sauce Ingredients
28-oz can of whole plum tomatoes
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, diced
1 tsp of turmeric
1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
1/4 teaspoon pepper, plus more to taste
olive oil
sugar

Directions

1. Cook the rice as you would normally. Let it cool completely before adding it in to the filling mixture.
2. Boil the cabbage leaves for 2-4 minutes in salted water until the leaves are pliable. Drain and set aside until cool enough to handle.
3. Pulse the tomatoes in a food processor just until broken down. (Make sure not to over-process the tomatoes.)
4. Add enough olive oil to coat the bottom of a skillet and set over medium heat. Once hot, add the onions, garlic, salt, and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until softened.
5. Add the turmeric. Cook for another minute.
6. Add the tomatoes and reduce the heat to medium-low.
7. Add a dash of sugar. Cover and let simmer for about 20 minutes.
8. While the sauce is simmering, put together the cabbage filling. In a large bowl, combine the ground beef, chopped onion, cooled rice, beaten egg, milk, ajwain seeds, salt, and pepper.
9. Lay out a cabbage leaf on a cutting board, broad side facing you. Put some filling towards the broad-end of the leaf. (If your cabbage rolls are big enough hopefully you can get about 1/3-cup of filling per leaf.)
10. Begin to roll the leaf lengthwise, and once you’ve gotten in one complete roll, tuck in the sides of the leaf, then finish rolling up the leaf.
11. Arrange the rolled cabbage leaves in a 9×13 baking dish. Top with the sauce.
12. Cover and cook in a 350°F for an hour.