Whole cabbage stuffed with rice

If you spend a long time with a cabbage – about 4 hours here – you get to meet its soft and sweet side. Give a cabbage the opportunity to be the star of the dinner table and it won't let you down.

Whole cabbage stuffed with rice Credit: Shuki Rosenboim & Louisa Allan

• serves

  8

• prep

  20 minutes

• cook

  3:10 hours

• difficulty

  Mid

Ingredients

• 1 small plain white cabbage
• 400 g (2 cups) basmati rice, soaked in cold water for 10 minutes
• sea salt flakes
• 160 ml extra virgin olive oil
• 2 onions, diced
• 50 g (⅓ cup) pine nuts
• 1 tsp baharat spice mix
• 35 g (¼ cup) currants
• freshly ground black pepper
• ½ bunch dill, fronds finely chopped
• ½ bunch mint, leaves finely chopped
• ½ bunch parsley, finely chopped
• 250 ml (1 cup) vegetable stock

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan-forced).
2. First you need to hollow out the cabbage. This might sound hard but it is actually pretty simple. Peel away the first few outer leaves and reserve them. Using a sharp knife, carve a 5 cm deep square around the core of cabbage and gently tease it out.
3. Using a long-handled teaspoon and a small knife, start to shave and scrape out the inner leaves until you're left with three or four firm layers of cabbage. Reserve the scraped-out interior to make sauerkraut.
4. Drain and rinse the rice, then transfer to a large saucepan, cover with boiling water, season with salt and simmer over medium heat for 10 minutes. Drain and set aside.
5. Heat 60 ml (¼ cup) of the olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 5–10 minutes, until translucent, then add the pine nuts and baharat spice mix and cook for another minute. Add the currants, 1 teaspoon of black pepper and 2 teaspoons of salt and stir to combine. Remove the pan from the heat and stir the onion mixture and herbs through the rice.
6. Place the hollowed-out cabbage, hole side up, on a work surface and rub inside the hollow with 1 teaspoon of salt and about 1 tablespoon of the remaining olive oil. Stuff the rice mixture into the cabbage until it is full, but not firmly packed. Cover the hole with the reserved cabbage leaves, then turn the cabbage right side up and place in a roasting tin.
7. Pour the stock over the cabbage and into the roasting tin, along with the remaining olive oil. Season with a final teaspoon of salt and a little more pepper and cover the cabbage with foil. Transfer to the oven and roast for 1 hour, then reduce the temperature to 150°C (130°C fan-forced) and cook for another 30 minutes. Carefully remove the foil and continue to roast the cabbage for another 1 hour, 15 minutes, until golden brown and a bit burnt on top.
8. Slice once on the table. Bon Appetit!

 

Images and recipes from Very Good Salads by Shuki Rosenboim & Louisa Allan, published by Smith Street Books, distributed by Thames & Hudson Australia (RRP $39.99).

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.