The preparation of classic cabbage rolls in some housewives causes a number of difficulties. First, cabbage needs to be disassembled into leaves, then wrap minced meat in them so that it does not fall out during boiling of products in the sauce. The cooking process is laborious and tedious. It is for this reason that lazy housewives came up with their own recipe for cabbage rolls. The filling does not need to be wrapped in a leaf, and this very cabbage is enough to simply mix with minced meat. We will talk about how to cook lazy cabbage rolls in the form of cutlets in an article. Mandatory dwell on all the nuances of this delicious and uncomplicated dish and do not forget about useful recommendations.
How to cook lazy cabbage rolls in the form of cutlets: ingredients
For this dish, you need to prepare the following products on the list:
- minced meat - 500 g;
- white cabbage - 400 g;
- onions - 150 g;
- garlic - 2-3 pcs.;
- round rice - 100 g;
- sour cream - 250 ml;
- tomato paste - 3 tbsp. l .;
- warm boiled water - 2 tbsp .;
- vegetable oil - 50 ml;
- black pepper - ½ tsp;
- salt to taste.
From the above number of ingredients, 24 lazy cabbage rolls in the form of cutlets should be obtained. Minced meat is preferably used from pork with beef (in a ratio of 1: 1) or with chicken. Cutlets before frying in a pan can be additionally rolled in flour. This will seal the meat juice inside the products.
Now you can directly begin the process of preparing meat and cabbage cutlets.
Stuffing for stuffed cabbage
In a traditional recipe, the filling of chopped meat and rice is wrapped in cabbage leaves. And in lazy cabbage rolls this is not necessary. It is good enough to chop the cabbage and combine it with meat, after passing it through a meat grinder.
Stuffing for lazy cabbage rolls in the form of cutlets is prepared as follows:
- Chop the cabbage as finely as possible or grate it on a special grater, transfer from the board to a deep bowl, pour boiling water and leave it under the lid for 10 minutes to make it soft.
- Grind with a knife or grate onions. Combine it with minced meat.
- Cook rice To do this, it is good to rinse it, changing the water several times until it becomes transparent. Pour rice into the pan, pour boiling water (200 ml) into it, add a pinch of salt. Bring the water to a boil, then cover the pan with a lid and remove from heat. Rice should be steamed well.
- Throw the cabbage into a colander and squeeze it out with your hands.
- Add cabbage and cooled rice to minced meat with onions.
- Salt, pepper and mix. If the minced meat is a little dry, you can add a raw egg to it.
Forming and frying cutlets
When the forcemeat for lazy cabbage rolls is ready, you can proceed to the next cooking step:
- Take about 70-90 g of minced meat with a tablespoon (you need to weigh it so that the products get the same size).
- With wet hands, form oblong cutlets. At this stage, they can be frozen or immediately begin cooking. Cutlets from the freezer must be brought to room temperature before frying.
- Heat vegetable oil in a pan. Fry the patties on both sides until a light crust is formed. So that the products do not exactly break up in the pan, it is recommended to roll them in flour before frying.
Baked lazy cabbage rolls in the form of cutlets in the oven. To do this, they should be transferred directly from the pan to a baking dish with sides so that the sauce does not leak out during cooking.
Gravy for stuffed cabbage
There are several options for making the sauce, in which pre-fried meat and cabbage cutlets are baked. It can be made from fresh tomatoes, tomato paste, ketchup, adding carrots and onions fried in vegetable oil. After dilution with water, a delicious gravy is obtained.
According to the simplest recipe, lazy cabbage rolls with rice and minced meat are baked in a sauce of sour cream and tomato paste. It is prepared as follows:
- In a deep bowl, put sour cream and pasta. Add salt, pepper (½ tsp).
- Pour the contents of the bowl with warm boiled water. Mix well with a spoon or whisk until a homogeneous consistency is obtained. It is important that the sour cream dissolves.
- Try the gravy to taste. You may need to add more salt or other spices (dried basil, oregano, sweet paprika).
- Pour the patties with sauce so that it covers the products to the middle. Otherwise, they may lose their shape.
- Leave 6-7 tablespoons of gravy for the last stage of cooking.
Roasting lazy cabbage rolls in the oven
After frying the formed patties and shifting them into a form with high sides, you can immediately preheat the oven to a temperature of 180 °. While it is heating, you should make the sauce and pour the prepared products over with it. Next, you need to put the form in a preheated oven at an average level.
Lazy cabbage rolls in the form of meatballs in gravy are baked for 40 minutes. During this time, a beautiful appetizing crust should form on top of the products.
While the lazy cabbage rolls are baked, it's time to chop the cilantro and chop the garlic. Combine them with the remaining sour cream and tomato sauce.
After 40 minutes of baking stuffed cabbage in the oven, the form should be removed from the oven, and the products themselves should be poured on top with sauce and cilantro and garlic. Continue the cooking process for another 5 minutes.
Serve lazy cabbage rolls to the table hot as an independent dish or with a side dish of mashed potatoes.
Secrets of cooking
Lazy stuffed cabbage in the form of cutlets is a dish that, even if you follow the technology, is obtained even by beginners. And the following tips will help to avoid the difficulties that sometimes arise during their preparation:
- Half-prepared rice should be added to minced meat. If you cook it completely, cutlets can fall apart during cooking in the oven. If the rice is raw, it absorbs all the meat juice, which is why cabbage rolls will turn out dry inside.
- Before adding to chopped meat, cabbage must be boiled or steamed in hot water. Otherwise, the minced meat will be sticky and it will be difficult to form cutlets from it.
- You can add more water to the sauce than indicated in the recipe. Gravy should not be small. Otherwise, cutlets can burn during baking dishes in the oven.
Now you know the secret to making lazy cabbage rolls. Enjoy your meal!