Vegetarian cabbage rolls

With tender cabbage leaves wrapped around a mushroom and walnut filling, this comfort food at its best. These cabbage rolls are the perfect heat-and-eat bundles for any night of the week.

Credit: Mary Makes It Easy

• serves

  8

• prep

  15 minutes

• cook

  50 minutes

• difficulty

  Mid

Ingredients

• 1 savoy cabbage, frozen, thawed, and leaves separated (see Note)
• 2 tbsp + 1 tsp butter, divided
• 2 small onions, finely diced
• 1 carrot, finely diced
• 1 stalk celery, finely diced
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 4 garlic cloves, finely minced
• 1 tsp dry thyme
• 3 cups (approx. 300 g) finely chopped mushrooms
• ½ tsp cumin
• 3 cups (450 g) cooked rice
• ½ cup (60 g) finely chopped walnuts
• ¼ cup finely chopped dill
• ¼ cup finely chopped parsley
• 1 egg
• 4 cups (1 L) Big Batch Tomato Sauce or store-bought tomato sauce
• ½ cup (125 ml) 35% cream
• ¼ cup (53 g) brown sugar

Total cooking time will vary - 50 minutes if cooking from fresh, or 1 hour 20 minutes from frozen.

Instructions

1. Cut the tough centre rib from the bottom of 16 cabbage leaves and set aside.
2. In a large skillet, melt 1½ tablespoons of butter over medium heat. Add in the onion, carrot and celery, season with salt and pepper, and cook until softened and lightly golden brown, about 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in the garlic and thyme and cook for another minute. Transfer to a large bowl and set aside.
3. Place the skillet back over medium heat. Add the remaining 3 teaspoons of butter and the mushrooms and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, until golden, about 5 minutes. Transfer the mushrooms into the bowl and add in the cumin, cooked rice, walnuts, dill, parsley and egg and stir well to combine.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk together the tomato sauce, cream and brown sugar and set aside.
5. If you’re prepping ahead and plan on freezing portions of two, grease four 15 cm x 20 cm (6 in x 8 in) foil pans or freezer-to-oven safe containers with non-stick cooking spray. If making a full batch immediately, grease a  23 cm x 30 cm ( 9 in x 12 in) baking dish. Pour two-thirds of the sauce into the pan(s) and spread across the bottom.
6. Working with one cabbage leaf at a time, scoop about ½ cup of the rice filling onto the cabbage and tightly roll, tucking in the edges. Place the roll into the prepared pan(s), seam side down, and continue until all the cabbage and filling is used. Pour the remaining sauce over the cabbage rolls. If making ahead, cover and store the rolls in the fridge for up to 3 days or wrap the pans in plastic or freezer bags and freeze for up to 3 months.
7. To cook the rolls, heat your oven to 200°C (400°F). Cover with foil and cook for 30 minutes from fresh or for about 1 hour from frozen until heated through. Remove the foil and cook for an additional 10 minutes or until the sauce on top is a bit jammy.

Note

• Traditionally, cabbage leaves are removed through repeatedly blanching and peeling away the layers of cabbage. To avoid this rather labour-intensive method, I prefer freezing and thawing my cabbage which breaks down and softens the leaves just enough to make them pliable and perfect for separating and rolling.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.