sooo i made some cabbage rolls. they were GOOD. also i’d never actually eaten a cabbage roll so i can’t speak for the authenticity, but they were GOOD.  just eat them alright? excuse these sort of gross photos of not gross foods.

another plus: this recipe calls for small quantities of red wine which means that you’ll have to buy a bottle but then have 3/4 of a full bottle of wine kicking around.

CABBAGE ROLLS

10-12 leaves of savoy cabbage

10 brown mushrooms, chopped fine

1/2 c.  walnuts, chopped fine

1 big onion, sliced

1/4 c. red wine

1/2 c. cooked rice (i used a long grain wild rice mix, tastytimes)

trim ends off of the cabbage, then blanch and trim down the stalks as closely as you can! put aside.

cook the rice! chop mushrooms finely, or pulse them in the food processor. saute until they start to brown, then add the garlic and walnuts until a little toasty. take them out of the pan! throw in the onions! cook until soft then deglaze with some red wine. mix the mushrooms mixture with the rice and winey onions. this is your filling.

SAUCE

1/2 onion, diced

1 carrot, diced

1 can tomatoes

6 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp thyme

2 tsp parpika

2 bay leaves

1 diced tomato

1 large can tomatoes

1/3 c. red wine

start cooking onions in a pot with a few tbsp oil. add carrots and all the spices and garlic. stir until fragrant. add the fresh tomato and scrape up anything that is stuck in the pot. add canned tomatoes! season with salt and pepper to taste. add wine and simmer for 20 minutes. if you don’t want a chunky sauce, take out the bay leaves and pulse with a hand blender (or blender blender).

ASSEMBLY

heat oven to 400. put a third of the sauce in the bottom of a casserole dish. put 1/4-1/3 c. of filling in each leaf (depending on the size of your cabbage). fold in the ends then roll them up. place them fold side down, then top with remaining sauce. cook for half an hour.