Something about the month of March makes me crave cooked cabbage.  Corned beef and cabbage is a wonderful meal, but have you seen the cost of a corned beef brisket lately?  A bit pricey, so I decided to go a different route.  All the recipes I found on the internet had a tomato sauce, not what I was in the mood for.  So as usual, I made up my own recipe.

I mixed up a ground beef filling with veggies, spices, an egg and uncooked rice.  There is less rice than in other recipes, because I wanted to keep the carb count to a minimum. Start with a lot of good things – fresh veggies, lovely herbs, ground meats.

Boil water in a large pot.

Blanch the cabbage leaves for 2-3 minutes, just so they are soft and easy to roll.

Drain and set aside while you complete the filling.

Mix up ground beef with Italian sausage for a big flavor boost.

Measure spices and herbs, smash two garlic cloves and chop the onion. Slice the mushrooms.

Saute the onion, garlic and herbs just until the onions soften and become translucent.  Sauteing the herbs makes the flavors bloom.

Add to the meat mixture.

Now, in the same pan with the leftover olive oil and a bit of butter, saute the mushrooms until just tender.

Add to the meat mixture. Then add your uncooked rice.

Add an egg to act as a binder.

Mix well. Spoon some filling into each leaf and roll up.

Place some shredded cabbage in the bottom of a baking dish, and lay the rolls on top.

Be sure you have enough room around them for even cooking without over-baking.  These looked too tight, so I changed pans.

That’s better. Add 1/4 cup water to the pan. Bake one hour at 350 degrees.

Serve with a bottled brown gravy or make your own with canned beef broth.  I used the bottled gravy, a great time saver.

An Irish inspired dish, flavorful and filling on a cold day. And since I saved some carbs, I can serve some new potatoes with it.

 

Cabbage Rolls with Brown Gravy

8 large cabbage leaves
1 pound ground beef
1/2 pound Italian sausage
1 tblsp Worchestershire sauce
1 tblsp olive oil
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 cloved chopped garlic
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp basil
1 tsp rosemary
1 tblsp parsley flakes
1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
1 tblsp butter
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 cup uncooked Jasmine rice
1 egg
1/4 cup water

Bring a large pot of water to boil. Blanch the cabbage leaves 2-3 minutes until soft, drain and set aside. Mix ground beef with sausage, add Worchesteshire sauce and set aside. Chop onion and garlic, add to saute pan with herbs. Saute 2-3 minutes, only until onion is soft and translucent, add to beef mixture. In the same pan, saute mushrooms in the olive oil that is left adding the butter. Saute until mushrooms are soft and have absorbed the butter. Add to meat mixture. Add salt, pepper, rice and egg to meat mixture and blend well. Using a measuring cup, add 1/4 cup of meat mixture to each cabbage leaf and roll up, folding in the sides. Place on a bed of shredded cabbage in a baking dish allowing ample room between rolls for even cooking. Add water to bottom of pan. Bake at 350 degrees one hour. Serve with warmed brown gravy. Makes 8 cabbage rolls.

Enjoy!!