Stuffed cabbage rolls with ground meat, baked in tomato sauce

Cooking method

1. Step 1:

   

   To make really tasty cabbage rolls baked in the oven in tomato sauce, gather all the ingredients from the list: a small head of cabbage up to 1 kg, ground meat (pork or a blend is best), rice, onion, tomato sauce, vegetable oil, salt, and spices.

2. Step 2:

   

   Wash the head of cabbage, strip off the damaged outer leaves, and cut out the core.

3. Step 3:

   

   Put the whole head of cabbage in a pot and cover it with water. Set the pot on the stove and bring it to a boil.

4. Step 4:

   

   While the cabbage cooks, prepare the rice — put it in a pot and rinse it. Cover half a cup of rice with a cup of water and cook over medium heat until the water has cooked off.

5. Step 5:

   

   Cut the onion into small cubes.

6. Step 6:

   

   Put the onion in a skillet with 1 tbsp of vegetable oil, add the spices, and fry over medium heat for 5 minutes.

7. Step 7:

   

   Take the cooked rice off the heat and let it cool a little.

8. Step 8:

   

   Likewise, take the sautéed onion and spices off the heat and leave them for about 10 minutes to cool a bit.

9. Step 9:

   

   Combine the rice and onion in a bowl.

10. Step 10:

    

    Add the ground meat and 1 tsp of salt to the rice and onion in the bowl.

11. Step 11:

    

    Knead the filling for the cabbage rolls well.

12. Step 12:

    

    Cook the cabbage over low heat, and as it cooks, peel off the leaves one at a time with a fork once they've softened to a light translucency and become pliable.

13. Step 13:

    

    Trim off the thick ribs from the parboiled cabbage leaves.

14. Step 14:

    

    Put a tablespoon of filling on each prepared cabbage leaf.

15. Step 15:

    

    Roll the filling up in the cabbage leaves, tucking the ends in to form the rolls.

16. Step 16:

    

    Line a baking dish with the leftover cabbage leaves.

17. Step 17:

    

    Arrange the formed cabbage rolls in the prepared dish.

18. Step 18:

    

    Sprinkle the cabbage rolls with 1 tsp of salt, pour the tomato sauce into the dish, and add 2 cups of water.

19. Step 19:

    

    Cover the dish of cabbage rolls with foil.

20. Step 20:

    

    Put the dish of cabbage rolls in a hot oven and bake at 350°F (180°C) for 40 minutes.

21. Step 21:

    

    After 40 minutes, take the dish out of the oven and remove the foil.

22. Step 22:

    

    Brush the cabbage rolls with vegetable oil.

23. Step 23:

    

    Return the cabbage rolls to the oven and bake for another 20 minutes.

24. Step 24:

    

    Bake the cabbage rolls until lightly golden.

25. Step 25:

    

    Take the dish of cabbage rolls in tomato sauce out of the oven and serve them hot.