Old-Fashioned Cabbage Rolls

[Jherrith]

Old-Fashioned Cabbage Rolls

INGREDIENTS:

1.5 lbs lean ground beef, or extra lean ground beef
1 c. COOKED long-grain rice, or a similar variety
1.5 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 large egg
⅓ c. chopped fresh parsley
1 yellow onion, peeled and minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
½ tsp onion powder
½ tsp dried dill (dill weed)
3 (13.5-oz.) cans tomato sauce, divided (about three 398 millilitres) cans or 5 cups
½ to 1 tsp red chilli flakes (crushed red pepper flakes), optional
½ c. water, leftover from boiling cabbage
Chopped fresh dill, garnish to taste (optional)
1 medium head green cabbage (you'll need around 18 leaves for the rolls and another 8 to 10 or so for the bottom of the dish and over top)
1.5 tsp salt
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper

INSTRUCTIONS:

Following the package directions, cook the rice. Meanwhile, prepare the oven. Preheat it to 350 degrees F.
Combine the ground beef, Worcestershire sauce, egg, cooked rice, onion, parsley, garlic, salt, black pepper, dill, onion powder, red chilli flakes, and half a cup of tomato sauce in a large bowl until well mixed.
Add the head of cabbage to a large pot of boiling water. Boil it for about 8 to 10 minutes, turning it over very carefully partway through. Now, carefully take the head of the cabbage out of the water. Saving the water to re-boil the cabbage as you begin peeling the leaves off and some for the sauce.
Start removing the cabbage leaves once the cabbage is cool enough to handle, cutting the core out from each leaf.
On the bottom of a deep 9x 13-inch baking dish, place some of the cabbage leaves. You can also use a roasting pan for this. Distribute around 1/4 cup of the ground beef mixture on each leaf. Wrap the leaf up by folding it in the sides, then rolling it up. Place the cabbage roll seam-side down in the prepared dish. Repeat with the rest of the cabbage leaves and ground beef mixture.
Whisk the rest of the 4.5 cups of tomato sauce with half a cup of cabbage water in a medium bowl. Pour this on top of the cabbage rolls. If you want less tomato bite, you can stir in around a tbsp or so of white or brown sugar.
Top the cabbage rolls with extra cabbage leaves. Finally, tightly tent the casserole with aluminium foil. Place in the preheated oven and bake for about 2 hrs 15 minutes or 2 hrs 30 minutes, covered, until the cabbage is cooked through and the ground beef is brown. The rolls are done when the internal temperature of the cabbage rolls reached 160 degrees F.
When done, very carefully take the foil off the dish, then discard the top cabbage leaves. Let the cabbage rolls cool for at least 20 minutes or so before serving. If desired, you can garnish these cabbage rolls with dill. Place any leftovers in an airtight container and store them in the fridge for up to 2 to 4 days. Reheat when serving. Enjoy!

NOTES
For this recipe, I recommend using extra lean ground beef to avoid the dish from getting too greasy. Feel free to substitute some of the tomato sauce with canned tomatoes. You can use either diced or whole peeled tomatoes. Using your hands or a potato masher, crush the whole peel canned tomatoes. If going this direction, you should use 1 (28 ounces) can of tomatoes with 1 (13 to 14 ounces) can of tomato sauce. If you want the tomato sauce extra rich, whisk 1 to 2 tbsp tomato paste into the sauce/water mixture upon pouring this over the stuffed cabbage rolls.