Stuffed Cabbage

Yummy but complicated! I haven't had any type of boil over or burning or any troubles in the kitchen for years now and I have to say, I had a pot boil over! It was hilarious, I was doing a very poor job of multitasking because I was a little intimidated by trying to blanche the cabbage! I admit, I had no idea how to 'core a cabbage' so I looked at a video on YouTube. I suggest doing the same and follow my directions. I did add a few tricks that I learned from watching Guy on Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. Go Triple D!! Oh and the original recipe makes enough to feed an army (literally) so I have scaled it back for you guys.

Ingrediants:

1 head of cabbage

Filling:
1 lb ground beef (I used ground turkey)
1 cup instant rice, uncooked
1 tsp garlic or garlic salt
1 tsp salt
2 tsp pepper
1 egg
1 onion, chopped
3 tbsp ketchup

Sauce:
2 cans tomato soup
1 cup water 
1 tsp garlic salt
1 tsp black pepper

Procedure:

Boil large pot of water, large enough to put the whole cabbage in. Core cabbage.
Here's what I did, but I'm not sure if its right. I cut the end part off the cabbage and I put the whole cabbage in the boiling water. After a few minutes, one - three minutes, the cabbage layers on the outside will become soft. I took large tongs and pulled off the blanched cabbage pieces (the outside soft ones) and put them on a plate to cool for a moment. These pieces will be used to wrap the beef mixture. The point is not to fully cook the cabbage, just cook it for a few minutes.Continue blanching the outer layers until you have enough to wrap the beef mixture.

To make the filling, mix all of the filling ingredients together. Don't cook anything, just mix it in a bowl.

Fill the cabbage leaf with a small amount of beef mixture filling and roll up tight and place in roaster pan. I used a 9x13 glass pyrex. Here's my Triple D trick: place excess cabbage on the bottom of the pan of the pan and on top to act in place of foil. This way it keeps the inside stuffed cabbages nice and protected from burning.

Once all of the stuffed cabbages are in the pan, pour the soup mixture on top. Then layer remaining excess cabbage on top. The top layer of cabbage will act in place of foil. Don't worry if the top layer burns because it will and should.

To make the soup mixture, mix all ingredients together.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Notes from my Aunt Charlotte:

"This recipe was given to me, by my mother Loretta Serafino."

Fully cooked:

Cooked, with the top layer of cabbage still on it: