Prep Time: A lifetime
Cook Time: Forever....
Ingredients:
2-3 cabbages*
3 kg ground pork
2 onions
2 cloves of garlic
1 cup of uncooked white rice
1 tsp dried thyme
2 TBSP dried basil
1 tsp hot pepper flakes
1 tsp salt (not much salt because the sauerkraut and tomato juice already have salt in them)
1/3-1/2 cup of olive oil
3 jars of Bicks Sauerkraut
1 bottle of V8 juice (or tomato juice)
Instructions:
Core the cabbages in a large soup pot and fill the pot with cold water to cover the cabbages. Bring to a boil, then turn down the heat and simmer gently until the leaves peel off easily. It takes a few stages of peeling and simmering to get to the last inside leaves of the cabbage. Set the peeled leaves aside on a large platter.
*if the cabbages are large, you may only need two. If they’re small, the inside leaves are too small for wrapping, so you’ll need a third to have enough large leaves. The leftover small leaves are great for another dish... Curried Cabbage with Potatoes and Peas, for example.
While the cabbages are simmering, prepare the filling.
In a large bowl, mix the onions, garlic, rice, olive, oil and spices together, then mix in the ground pork until well combined.
To assemble the cabbages rolls:
If using a soup pot, place a number of spoons or forks in the bottom of the pot to prevent burning.
Put about 1 cup of sauerkraut in the bottom of the pot or slow cooker.
Place about a 1/3 of a cup (a large meatball size) amount of filling in a cabbage leaf, fold the leaves over to make an envelope, and place them in the pot, folded side down.
Repeat this until you have a layer of rolls. Add more sauerkraut, then another layer of rolls. Repeat until the pot is full.
Pour over about half of the bottle of V8 or tomato juice.
Cook gently on the stove top for about 6 hours.
When using a slow cooker, I like to turn it on to high for the first hour and a half, to make sure the ingredients get to a hot temperature quickly. Then turn it down to low for about 8 hours.
Authors Note: I’ve only ever made cabbage rolls in large quantities, so this is a bit of a guess. I’ve made much bigger quantities than this recipe, but this is a workable amount. This recipe makes the equivalent of a large slow cooker and a large soup pot full of cabbage rolls. Why make less? It still takes about the same amount of time! Be sure to make them a day or two ahead. They’re much yummier!