The name of this dish in different cuisines of the world sounds differently, and it, like all other culinary inventions of mankind, has its own story. For example, dolma is almost the same as cabbage rolls, only the filling is wrapped in grape leaves. This option is common in southern Europe, North Africa, from the Middle East to Central Asia.
So, if you want variety, just replace the cabbage leaves with grape, not forgetting, of course, add a certain national flavor to the dish.
German cabbage sausages exist in the world of cooking - a kind of cabbage rolls, where cabbage is present in the minced meat.
In Belarus, they like to cook stuffed cabbage with minced meat and potatoes. In Chile and other Latin American countries, the filling of corn and other products is wrapped in corn cobs.
Russian cabbage rolls appeared in ancient Russian cuisine, but in those days minced meat was not known to our ancestors. The gutted carcasses of pigeons were wrapped in cabbage leaves, so that when baked on a fire, they did not overcook, and the meat of small game retained its juiciness. A little later they were baked in sour cream, cranberry or cranberry sauce. This dish was called cabbage rolls.
Later, cabbage, vegetables, mushrooms began to be wrapped in cabbage. This filling for cabbage rolls was successful in peasant cuisine, which was significantly different from the dishes of the boyar and merchant.
With the advent of minced meat in our kitchen, the internal content of cabbage rolls has changed, but the name remains the same. Naturally, semi-finished products from minced meat and other ground ingredients quickly gained popularity, and even erased the border between dishes of nobility and servants a little.
How to cook cabbage rolls to give it new unusual notes of taste? This is what we will do.
Cabbage rolls in tomato sauce - basic technological principles
In modern Russian cuisine, cabbage rolls are a household name, and as a filling, every housewife can use those products that her family prefers. Let's try to list the most famous types of fillings, given that the cereal part must be present in its composition:
Minced meat, rice, onions, carrots;
Mushrooms, pearl barley (buckwheat), vegetables;
Potatoes (instead of cereals), minced meat, sautéed vegetables;
Egg, rice (bulgur), onion;
Chopped meat, dried fruits, cereals;
Minced meat, pumpkin, groats (millet);
Nuts, cereals, mushrooms.
On this, the options for compiling the filling, of course, have not been exhausted, and let the above examples serve as an idea for creating your own recipe. Do not forget about the principle of compatibility of products and a balanced healthy diet.
Traditional stuffed cabbage in the filling contains chopped or cutlet meat, not less than half of the total mass. Replacing one type of meat with another, in this or that recipe, every time you can achieve a new taste. In addition, the meat portion of the filling can be boiled, stewed, baked. Ancient Russian cuisine has always been famous for rationalism, homeliness. Quite often, the remnants of yesterday's dinner fell into pies and other dishes. Why not use yesterday's stew or sausage in a fresh and hot second course?
In cases where cabbage rolls are prepared for a lean or diet dinner, the meat is replaced with nuts or mushrooms, fish or seafood, as these products are equivalent to meat proteins in calories. But mushrooms and nuts are difficult to absorb by the body, so their mass should be significantly reduced in the filling. Onions and carrots, in addition to taste, give juiciness to the filling. Rice, barley, millet, buckwheat, bulgur, in addition to filling, serves as a binding component.
Now go to the cabbage. If you do not like the procedure for preparing a head of cabbage, separating the leaves, then chop it finely and add to the minced meat, accordingly reducing the number of other vegetables. But the minced meat, wrapped in leaflets, gives the dish a completely different, not tousled appearance, and in this form cabbage rolls may well appear on the festive table, and not just at an everyday family dinner.
There are several ways to prepare cabbage leaves, but we will choose the most convenient and economical of them. Take the biggest head of cabbage. Cut the cabbage in half along the transverse line. At the top of the leaves are easily separated. Semi-finished products when using part of the sheet will have a small size, but this will reduce the time of their heat treatment, and the cabbage rolls themselves will look beautiful and neat. Cabbage leaves are softer and more tender in the upper part of the head. Wrap the filling in them, separating from each other. But first, put the upper part in a colander, cut it down, set a colander or strainer in a pan with boiling water, and heat it. As the leaves are steaming, peel them, layer by layer.
The lower part can be used for pickling, cooking salads, cabbage soup and so on. The leaves at the base of the head are dense, thick, with rough veins, and wrapping the stuffing in them for cabbage rolls is extremely inconvenient, and throwing out such juicy parts is not economical.
Almost any kind of cabbage and leafy vegetables are suitable for cabbage rolls, but pay attention to their density. Fill thicker and more stubborn leaves with steam to soften. They can also be marinated or lightly beaten with a wooden mallet. Most often, white cabbage is used for the preparation of semi-finished products. But other varieties are interesting in cooking: Peking, Savoy, leaf lettuce, chard (leaf beets).
Wrap the filling in the prepared leaves with an envelope or tube, bending the edges. Formed cabbage rolls, be sure to fry them in a pan, if you do not cook them in the oven. Seam down in preheated oil. The brown crust formed during frying will help to maintain a beautiful smooth shape. In addition, in a semi-finished form, cabbage rolls are stewed in the sauce much faster and tastier.
The finishing touch in the preparation of cabbage rolls is the sauce. Of course, it is important to choose the components for the filling, which will be harmoniously combined with each other, but the sauce is the very product that will hide or emphasize all the shortcomings and advantages of any dish, even if you wrap plain bread in cabbage leaves. Sauce is everything! If all the stages of cooking cabbage rolls are quite conservative, then when choosing a sauce, you can let go of the culinary fantasy - let it work in full force.
In every kitchen in the world, every nation has its own favorite and traditional sauce recipe. Take, for example, tomatoes: you can prepare the sauce in a Mediterranean or Mexican style, you can try cabbage rolls with Asian tomato sauce, use different basics, and the old dish will get new unusual shades of taste.
1. Stuffed cabbage in tomato sauce with sour cream - a classic recipe
Ingredients:
For semi-finished products:
Minced pork and ground beef 900 g
Rice 150 g
Carrot 120 g
Cabbage 750 g
Onion 180 g
Tomato paste 30 g
Sour cream 400 g
Margarine, cream 150 g
Pepper
Bay leaf
Coriander
Clove
Salt
Flour 60 g
Broth or water 750 ml
Greens spicy, fresh
Cooking:
Boil the rice until half cooked. Chop carrots and onions, sauté vegetables until soft. Add rice and sautéed vegetables to the minced meat, season with spices. Mix the mass well, hold for half an hour in the refrigerator, covering with a film.
Add flour to the remaining sautéed vegetables, fry slightly. Combine the tomato paste with sour cream and broth, pour the liquid into the saucepan. Simmer for 7-8 minutes. Season with spices and chopped herbs. Wipe the finished sauce through a sieve until a homogeneous sauce of medium consistency is obtained.
Fry the cabbage rolls in a pan and transfer to a baking dish. Pour sauce and simmer in the oven. To prevent the food from burning, place it in a pan with water.
2. Cabbage rolls in tomato sauce from savoy cabbage - an unusual recipe
Ingredients:
Quail (breast) 6 pcs.
Onion 200 g
Pepper
Salt
Cabbage leaves 6 pcs.
Butter 120 g
Nutmeg
Raisins, red 80 g
Boiled rice 180 g
Orange 200 g
Chile (powder)
Soy Sauce 30 ml
Honey 50 g
Cognac 75 ml
For the sauce:
Ketchup, tomato 300 g
Sweet red pepper 1 pc.
Chile, green 1 pc.
Shallots 3-4 stems
Vegetable oil 50 ml
Flour 25 g
Oregano
Garlic
Allspice
Cilantro (leaves)
Ground cloves
White broth 0.5 l
Mustard (Seeds)
Order of preparation:
Chop the breast into small strips. Dip the orange in boiling water for a minute. Cut the peel of the orange into strips, and add chili, ground nutmeg and soy sauce to the juice. Heat a cast-iron pan, sauté minced meat. Add chopped onion, fry it with meat until transparent. Put the butter, melt it. Pour the orange juice mixed with soy sauce and honey into the pan. Wait until the liquid has evaporated by half and turns golden. Pour in cognac and bring up a long burning match. Be careful when flaming meat: there should not be any flammable objects near the pan. Set cognac on fire while standing at a distance. When the flame goes out, combine the meat with rice and raisins, steamed in boiling water. Shuffle.
Cabbage leaves slightly beat off, cut off the thick bases. Wrap the stuffing in them.
Transfer semi-finished products to a baking sheet and bake until golden brown.
Start preparing the ingredients for the hot tomato sauce.
Spicy green pepper, free from seeds and stalk, cut into very small strips, chop shallots and cilantro, cut red pepper into cubes.
Heat oil and fry flour. Put spices in the pan. When aroma appears, add ketchup and broth. Taste, salt. Stew the sauce until thickened, and at the end add chopped vegetables and herbs. Serve the finished sauce to the cabbage rolls separately, in a gravy boat, or pour the cabbage rolls, serving them in plates.
3. Stuffed cabbage in tomato sauce with vegetables and rice - vegetarian cuisine
Ingredients:
Zucchini 250 g
Carrot 300 g
Onions 200 g
Vegetable oil
Lettuce 150 g
Spice
Cooked rice 400 g
White cabbage
Sugar
Celery (root) 120 g
Tomato juice
Salt
Flour
Parsley and dill
Cooking:
Prepare a large head of cabbage as described in the basic technological principles.
Wash and peel all vegetables, chop peppers, carrots and onions with a thin straw; cut celery root and zucchini into small cubes. Chop the greens. Put the third part of onions, carrots and celery aside to prepare the sauce.
In a deep hot skillet, fry vegetables alternately, adding a little vegetable oil. Combine them with rice, season with spices to taste, slightly salt. Wrap the finished stuffing in cabbage leaves, put the semi-finished products in a saucepan.
Add a little oil to the pan again and sauté the vegetables set aside for making the tomato sauce. Bring carrots and onions to softness, add flour, mix, and pour tomato juice in 3-4 minutes. Stew until thickened. Add spices, a couple teaspoons of sugar, salt. Thoroughly mix the finished sauce with a blender and pour into a saucepan, covering them with cabbage rolls. Stew for 15-20 minutes. Sprinkle with fresh herbs.
Stuffed cabbage prepared according to this recipe can be served cold and canned for the winter.
4. Cabbage rolls in Beijing cabbage tomato sauce with mushrooms and pearl barley
Ingredients:
Chanterelles 1.5 kg
Onions, 0.5 kg (net)
2 cloves of garlic
Butter 180 g
Salt
Beijing cabbage 2.0 kg
Pearl barley 150 g
Cream (20%) 300 ml
Flour 90 g
Allspice
Bay leaf
Tomato puree 100 g
Parsley 100 g
Cooking method:
Soak barley in water overnight, cook in large quantities of water until fully cooked. Peking cabbage disassemble into separate leaves, cutting off the base. Lightly beat off.
Sort fresh mushrooms, prepare them and fry with butter, with chopped onions. At the end of frying, season with salt, garlic, spices and chopped parsley. You can replace the chanterelles with any forest mushrooms or even greenhouse champignons, only then add dried porcini mushrooms, ground to powder, for aroma, during frying. Cool the mushrooms and pass them through a large grinder mesh. You can finely chop them before frying, so as not to use a meat grinder. Combine the ingredients of the filling, pearl barley and fried mushrooms with onions.
Wrap the filling in cabbage leaves with an envelope. Fry, laying semi-finished products in a preheated pan.
Make the sauce separately. Fry the flour with a small amount of butter. Pour in the cream, continuously stirring the sauce with a whisk, then add the tomato puree and spices. Taste it. Strain the finished sauce. Pour them stuffed cabbage and stew for ten minutes. Serve garnished with chopped parsley.
5. Stuffed cabbage in pork and liver tomato sauce
Ingredients:
Pork neck 800 g
Pepper and salt
Liver 400 g
Butter 100 g
Buckwheat groats 200 g
Onions 250 g
Red carrots 300 g
Vegetable oil 150 ml
Cabbage leaves
For the sauce:
Cream 300 ml
Leek 100 g
Tomato paste 80 g
2 eggs
Greens to taste
Black pepper
Garlic 2-3 cloves
Paprika 30 g
Salt
Cooking:
Cook the buckwheat porridge as usual.
Cut the liver and meat into medium-sized pieces, and sauté separately until cooked. Chop onions and carrots, sauté.
Combine meat, liver and sauteed vegetables. Grind them with a blender to a paste consistency, adding butter. Add buckwheat porridge to the meat mass.
Wrap the prepared stuffing in cabbage leaves. Fry the semi-finished products until they are rosy in color and transfer to a dish.
To prepare the sauce, beat the eggs in a lush mass and pour into hot cream, whipping the mixture with a whisk. Add whipping spices, tomato paste. Place the saucepan on the stove. Keep stirring, bring the sauce to a boil. When it becomes a creamy consistency, add chopped leek and spicy greens.
When serving, pour cabbage rolls with Dutch sauce.
6. Stuffed cabbage in tomato sauce with chicken breast, rice and eggs in a chard
A small reference: chard - leaf beet. It is popularly called "Roman cabbage", so early leafy culture may well serve as a "wrapper" for cabbage rolls. You can also use the young leaves of ordinary table beets.
Ingredients:
Chard leaves 40 pcs.
Fried rice, boiled 400 g
Boiled eggs 7 pcs.
Boiled Chicken Breast 800 g
Green onion 200 g
Sour cream, oily 150 g
Ground pepper
Garlic
Salt
For the sauce:
Tomato juice 500 ml
Mustard, Russian 40 g
Honey 70 g
Chile 15 g
Salt
Clove
Ground coriander
Flour 60 g
Oil, vegetable 90 ml
Cherry - 1 pc. per serving
Spicy greens - for decoration
Cooking:
Sprinkle leaves with boiling water, remove the stems. Combine boiled rice with finely chopped eggs, breast and onions. Season the filling with sour cream and spices, mix. Wrap minced meat in small rolls.
For the sauce, fry the flour in a pan with butter. Pour in tomato juice. Bring the mass to a thickening, stirring with a whisk. In case of lumps, wipe through a sieve. Add honey, mustard and spices, adjust the taste, and bring to a boil again.
Transfer the semi-finished products to the pan, pour the sauce and simmer for ten minutes.Serve, garnished with greens, egg slices, cherry.
Stuffed cabbage in tomato sauce - useful tips
- Meat during heat treatment loses up to 40% of the mass, and the weight of cereals is doubled. This nuance must be taken into account in the process of preparing the filling for stuffed cabbage, so that it does not turn out that cereal will prevail in the filling.
- Tomato sauce has a characteristic sour taste. Add a little sugar to it to improve the taste. The aroma of cloves, coriander, cardamom is also well combined with tomatoes.
- Add garlic to the sauce at the very end of cooking. Overcooked garlic has a completely different smell, and in this form it affects the taste of the dish.
- Spices and roots with a pronounced aroma should not clog the taste of the main ingredients of the dish. Use too spicy seasonings carefully, without fanaticism.
