Stuffed Cabbage or Bell Peppers
This recipe holds many memories for me. It’s still one of my all-time favorites although I’ve modified the recipe a good deal over the years. The original used only ground beef and rice mixed with egg. My version has ground turkey and turkey sausage and no rice and no egg. The sauce was a simple tomato sauce and now I use crushed or diced or both. There’s a few more steps to my version which I think have improved the taste but that’s not to say my mother’s weren’t the best ever. Just mine are slightly (only slightly) healthier.
This is definitely a weekend meal. There’s a bit of prep time to it so I say get the kids to help. This is another family project meal which should be a fun time for all.
The filling for both the cabbage and the peppers is the same, so hence I’ve bundled both recipes together for you and I hope you cherish this recipe as much as I do.
Filling:
1 package (¼ lbs) ground turkey
1 tube turkey sausage
Garlic salt & pepper to taste
1 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes
Mix together ground turkey and turkey sausage garlic salt and pepper. Open the can of crushed tomatoes and add two tablespoons to the mix. Mix together with your hands (or the kids hands) till combined.
That’s your filling, now for the wrapping.
Cabbage – I’ve changed the recipe from just regular cabbage to savoy cabbage because it’s more flexible. But honestly it doesn’t matter. Both are equally delicious and if it makes more sense to do regular cabbage, do so with my blessing.
Preparing the cabbage:
Start a large pot of water with a little chicken soup base or your chicken stock if you’ve made it. Start the heat at medium-high. We want the water to start boiling while we work with the cabbage.
Turn the cabbage upside down to reveal the base. Remove as much of the stalk as you can with a paring knife in order to more easily remove the leaves. Once you’ve got about a half dozen leaves, slide each of them into the boiling water to wilt them and get them flexible enough for wrapping the filling. They should be in the water no more than 5 minutes. Once they are done, remove them from the water and into a bowl of cold water, preferably with ice. Repeat the same with another 6 leaves.
While the second batch of 6 is in the water, you can begin to start wrapping the filling in the first batch, and place them in a bowl.
Once you remove the second batch of leaves from the boiling water. Turn off the burner and fill the second batch of leaves. You should have a total of 12 stuffed cabbage rolls. Once you do, carefully place the cabbage rolls back in the water you used for wilting the cabbage leaves. Turn the burner back on to low heat setting and let the cabbage simmer for about 15 to 20 minutes. When the cabbage leaves begin to be transparent is when the rolls are complete. Drain the water from the pot. (don’t save this water) Add the remainder for the crushed tomatoes and serve.