Stuffed cabbage rolls ( Etli lahana sarmasi)

Stuffed cabbage rolls

Ingredients:

Filling:

500 gms. ground meat                                     cabbage (one head)

2 tomatoes

2 onion

 bunch of parsley

1 glass rice

1 tbsp. dried mint

2 tbsps. tomato paste

2 tbsps. butter or 1 teacup vegetable oil

salt / black pepper

Methods:

Filling

In a clean empty bowl, put in chopped onions, ground meat, rice, tomatoes, parsley, dried mint, 1/2 tbsp. tomato paste, salt , black pepper and 1/2 glass of lukewarm water and mix everything. Set aside.

How to separate cabbage leaves:

Wash and rinse the exterior of teh cabbage head. Remove core from cabbage. Place whole head of cabbage in a large pot filled with salted boiling water. Cook while rotating with pronged fork for 3 minutes or until softened enough to pull up individual leaves. 

When leaves are cool enough to handle, cut away the thick stem from each leaf, without cutting all the way through. 

Wrapping:

Place about 1/2 tbsp of filling on each cabbage leaf. Roll away from you to encase the filling. Flip the right side of the leaf to the middle, then flip the left side, which would now look like an envelope. Once again, roll away from you to create a neat little roll.

Cooking:

The remaining cabbage leaves that you wont use can be place in the bottom of a casserole dish. Place the cabbage rolls on top of the chopped cabbage, seasoning each layer with salt and pepper. Pour the tomato paste mixture, then top with butter or vegetable oil. Cover and cook in a low heat for 30 minutes.

Garnish with yogurt in serving.