mushroom & brown rice stuffed savoy cabbage

stuffed cabbage rolls in tomato sauce. a savoy cabbage caught my eye. i wanted the sweet & sour tomato sauce but wasn’t feeling the grease that meat would give up. so, i decided to wing it with brown rice & mushrooms. the result was just what i wanted. delicious! i should have doubled the recipe. i made my brown rice the day before. here’s how;

filling

1 head savoy cabbage, cored & blanched for 3-5 minutes
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
10 oz baby bella mushrooms, chopped to resemble ground meat
1 cup brown rice, just cooked, not mushy
1 onion, diced finely
½ teaspoon allspice
salt & white pepper

sauce

15 oz can of tomato sauce
2 tablespoons honey or sugar or agave nectar
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
salt & white pepper

cook brown rice. i did this the day before.

boil water in a pot large enough for the cabbage head. core the cabbage and when water boils add cabbage, you may have to hold it down, mine wanted to float. you want the leaves to be tender and easy to remove. lift cabbage out of boiling water with chinese wire strainer. let drain over pot, then transfer to a colander to cool. in a skillet add olive oil. when it starts to shimmer add diced onion and stir. start chopping your mushrooms and add to skillet in batches as you chop. cook until tender. add allspice, salt & pepper. stir in cup of cooked rice. done. set aside.

preheat oven to 350℉.

in a sauce pan add tomato sauce, honey, lemon juice. heat through. add salt & pepper to taste. simmer 5 minutes.

in a shallow casserole with a lid, cover bottom with tomato sauce. remove leaves from cabbage and cut the sturdy part of the spine out of the leaf. now the leaf will lie flat. place ⅓ cup or so of mushroom & rice mixture on leaf & roll. place in casserole dish seam side down. cover rolls with sauce. put lid on dish and bake for 30 minutes & sauce is bubbling. let rolls rest, covered, for 15 minutes before serving.

How To Roll Cabbage Leaves:

1. cut sturdy part of spine out of leaf
2. open the leaf & lie flat on the counter.
3. place the mushroom/rice mixture in the center of the leaf.
4. bring the top and bottom of the leaf over the mixture.
5. roll the sides into the center to overlap each other.
6. Place seam side down in the dish to bake.