Cabbage Roll in a Casserole

Recipe of Carolina Gelen from Kosher.com

Ingredients

• 1 small head green cabbage (about 900g to 1kg)

• 4 tablespoons neutral oil, such as sunflower or grapeseed, plus a little more for greasing and drizzling

• 2 medium shallots, finely chopped

• ½ cup long grain white rice or basmati rice, thoroughly rinsed and drained 

• 15ml tomato paste (1 heaping tablespoon)

• 8 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

• 1 tablespoon Lewis & Son Sweet Paprika (1 tablespoon)

• 2 teaspoons of chopped fresh thyme leaves, or 1 teaspoon dried thyme

• 1 teaspoon Lewis and Son Black Pepper Ground

• 500g of Continental Kosher Butchers Regular Beef Mince

• Kosher Salt

• 800g Passata Tomato Sauce

• 420g Whole Peeled Tomatoes

Recipe

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celcius

2. Slice the cabbage in half, through the stem. Tightly wrap the cabbage halves in aluminum foil, place on a baking sheet, and bake until super soft and tender all the way through, 45 to 50 minutes. Set aside to cool but leave the oven on.

3. In a medium skillet, heat three tablespoons of the oil over medium heat. Add the shallots and cook, stirring frequently, until softened and translucent, four to five minutes. Add the rice and cook, stirring, until toasted and fragrant, four to five minutes. Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring to coat the rice in the tomato paste, until the mixture darkens and begins to caramelize on the bottom of the pan, about three minutes.

4. Create a space in the middle of the pan and add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil, plus the garlic, paprika, thyme, and black pepper. Cook until very fragrant, about two minutes. Add the beef and a big pinch of salt and mix well to incorporate the spices into the beef. (We’re looking to use the warmth in the pan to help break up the beef and cook it a little, but not all the way through since it will cook in the oven.) Remove the pan from the heat.

5. Add all of the tomato sauce and the whole tomatoes, crushing them with your hands as you add them to the beef mixture. Add a few tablespoons of water to each of the cans to swish around and pick up whatever tomato sauce is still in the can. Add that to the pan and stir to combine. This will look like a weird, raw ragu, but remember, this is all getting baked together with the cabbage. Trust the process!

6. To assemble the cabbage roll cake, grease a deep 25cm springform pan with oil. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set the springform on the baking sheet.

7. Add a dollop of the tomato-beef mixture to the bottom of the pan and spread it in an even layer. Pull off about one-fourth of the leaves from the steamed cabbage. Chop any thicker cabbage core pieces and save them for the final layer. Layer the cabbage leaves over the sauce, letting them overlap as needed to fully cover the sauce.

8. Add a third of the tomato-beef mixture over the cabbage, followed by another fourth of the cabbage leaves in an even layer. Add another third of the tomato-beef mixture and top with another fourth of the cabbage leaves in an even layer.

9. Top with the remaining third of the tomato sauce, followed by the remaining fourth of the cabbage leaves, including the chopped cabbage cores on top.

10. Tightly cover the pan with foil and bake for one hour and 20 minutes. Carefully remove the foil and drizzle the cabbage with a few tablespoons of oil. Continue to bake until the top layer of cabbage is golden brown, about 15 more minutes.

11. Preheat the broiler. Place the oven rack about 10 cm from the heating element. Broil until the cabbage is nicely charred, three to four minutes. Let cool for 10 to 15 minutes before serving. Slice and serve like you would a lasagna or a cake.