I like cabbage rolls but I've never been good at making them. I've always struggled to roll them properly, so I typically do them a lazy way. I make them into a sort of cabbage casserole, layered like a lasagna. Its the same taste but a different presentation and typically much easier to construct.
After seeing a video online about a cabbage pie I thought that it might be fun to try myself. This was my first attempt at it and it turned out okay, so I thought that I'd share it with you all. I made some tweaks to the recipe. Here is my cabbage pie. Enjoy!
I didn't actually measure these ingredients when cooking so they are approximations. Use your judgement while putting things together if you try this recipe yourself. Feel free to add or subtract to your own taste preferences.
• 10-20 Cabbage leaves depending on your preference. If you want thicker cabbage layers then you will need more leaves.
• 1 pound ground beef (you can substitute ground pork or chicken as well, depending on your taste)
• 1 carrot
• 1 onion
• 1-2 garlic cloves
• 1 egg
• 2 tbsp tomato puree or paste
• worchestershire sauce to taste
• 1/4 cup bread crumbs (add as needed)
• tbsp olive oil
Spices
• Beef bouillon cube
• Onion powder
• Garlic powder
• Thyme
Saute the beef and dice the vegetables. Add the vegetables to the pan once the meat is mostly cooked through. Add the spices, worchestershire and tomatoes paste/puree as well. Cook until the vegetables are tender.
While everything is cooking, steam the cabbage leaves until soft. Don't go too far with the steaming because all of the color will drain from the leaves. I would recommend steaming one or two extra leaves and setting them aside as well. I'll explain why later.
When everything is done cooking mix in an egg and the bread crumbs to bind everything together. This makes it possible to cut the pie without everything falling apart on the plate.
Start assembling the pie by putting a few layers of cabbage into your casserole dish. In this case the bottom of the pan is going to be the top of the pie. I put one-two full leaves on the very bottom of the dish and then staggered the rest around the outside so that they could be folder over the filling. Add in the meat and vegetable mixture and fold the cabbage leaves over everything like I mentioned. Again, leave a few steamed leaves aside for the end.
Bake the pie in the oven at 350F for 30 minutes or so.
Take the pie out of the oven and flip it over and knock it out of the pan. As you can see from my photo, the cabbage leaves browned a lot in the oven. I would recommend putting one or two of the leaves that were set aside on top of the pie to give it a more fresh green look. I think that the presentation would be nicer that way. I plan to do this the next time I make the recipe.
Thats it. Enjoy!
