Töltött kelkáposzta

Cabbage Parcels

Serves: 6
Ingredients:

12 leaves peeled off in turn from a large Savoy cabbage

for the filling:
– 1 small onion, peeled and finely chopped
– 150g each lean minced beef and minced pork
– 250g packet ready-cooked brown basmati rice
– 1 rounded teaspoon each of ground cumin, coriander and cinnamon
– a pinch of crushed and dried chillies
– 2 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
– salt and ground pepper

for the tomato sauce:
– 1 tbsp. olive oil
– 1 small onion, peeled and finely chopped
– pinch of crushed dried chillies
– 400g can whole plum tomatoes

Preparation:

To make the sauce: Heat the oil with the onion, garlic and dried chillies in a pan and cook, stirring occasionally, over low to medium heat for about five minutes. Add the tomatoes with their juice, and smash them with a spoon. Simmer for about 15 minutes until thickened. Season. Whizz with a stick blender to make a chunky sauce. Set aside.

Meanwhile, make the filling: Put all the ingredients into a large bowl and mix together – using 2 forks in the easier way. Set the oven to gas mark 5 or 190 °C. Add the cabbage leaves (4 or 6 at a time) to a pan of boiling salted water and cook for 2 minutes until softened. Take them out and place them in a colander and cool them under cold running water or put in a bowl of iced water. Cook the rest of the leaves in batches.

Pat the leaves dry in a tea towel and put them underside up on the work surface and slice along the thick vein from the base, to make it thinner. Turn the leaves over. Divide the stuffing mixture between them. Fold them stem end up in the sides and roll them up to make a parcel. Spoon a little of the tomato sauce and 3 tablespoons of hot water into a large, buttered shallow baking dish. Arrange the parcels, steam side down in the dish. Spoon the rest of the sauce over. Cover with baking parchment, then foil or the lid, and bake for 1 hour.