Stuffed cabbage is the most traditional autumn dish, when a lot of fresh cabbage appears in shops and markets. They can be made with minced meat or various vegetables. Today we suggest you talk about the nuances of their preparation. The fact is that young hostesses very often have questions regarding how to properly wrap cabbage rolls. Let's understand, but we will start from the very beginning.
Stuffing for stuffed cabbage
The main thing in cabbage rolls is the filling. In order to cook it, you need to mix boiled rice, homemade minced meat, chopped onions, herbs and an egg.
Do not forget to salt and add seasonings to your taste. Mix all components thoroughly.
Cabbage for cabbage rolls
Now let's prepare the cabbage. You need to wash the cabbage and remove some of the top leaves. Cut off the top of the stump. This must be done so that later it is convenient to remove the sheets from the plug.
Cabbage for cabbage rolls is generally a separate issue. You need to be able to choose the right vegetable, since not every fork will be able to make neat, mouth-watering duckies. Firstly, the head should be large so that the sheets, respectively, are rather big, otherwise it would be inconvenient to wrap the stuffing (it should not fall out, which is very problematic if the sheet is tiny). Secondly, he simply has to be loose. Tight, tight forks are difficult to strip. Thirdly, pay attention to the veins - the smaller they are, the better. Well, now back to the technology of cooking.
Head of cabbage should be put in a large pot, and then cook for twenty minutes. The cooking process will give the cabbage leaves softness, they will become brittle and more flexible, which will allow them to wrap minced meat.
Separate the leaves from the stump. The core can then come in handy for some kind of salad.
How to wrap cabbage rolls in cabbage?
So we come to the most important stage. Now you need to properly form the cabbage rolls. How to wrap them correctly so that they do not turn around during the cooking process? This is completely uncomplicated. There are several ways. Let's look at one of them.
Take a leaf of cabbage and put minced meat on it so that it is near the petiole. Then we press the sheet to the meat and tuck it. Next, we fold the side edges inward. And again we turn forward. So we made our stuffed cabbage. How to wrap up - also figured out.
Vegetable preparation
Let's prepare the stewed vegetables. Finely chop the onions and a few tomatoes. We rub carrots on a coarse grater. Heat olive oil in a pan (you can take vegetable oil) and put all the prepared vegetables there. Add salt and black pepper to taste, as well as bay leaf. Letβs now give the vegetables a good steam. Stew under a closed lid, stirring constantly (ten minutes will be enough).
When the vegetables are sufficiently sweaty, you can put stuffed cabbage on them. Drown them a little in a roast. Do not forget to add water. Cover and cook over low heat for 40-50 minutes. And then we serve our cabbage rolls on a table with sour cream. Eating!
Another way to wrap cabbage rolls
How to cook cabbage rolls, how to wrap them are the most frequently asked questions by inexperienced housewives. And if everything is more or less clear with the first, then the second will be considered in more detail. For those who like to make little duckies, and do not like a hard streak in the middle of a cabbage leaf, this method of wrapping is ideal.
The boiled leaves are removed from the cabbage. Each has a vein cut out from the middle, which usually interferes with the filling. Thus it is divided into two parts. In fact, from one leaflet we get two, but small ones.
Each piece has a shape resembling a triangle. We put minced meat in the middle and roll it up in the form of a bag (as seeds were once wrapped up). The bottom edge will be sharp, and the top should be turned inward. Stuffed cabbage is ready. It has the shape of a cone.
There is another way to wrap cabbage rolls in the same triangular leaflets. To do this, having prepared the minced meat, put it on a sheet, which should be turned to us with a sharp edge. And from ourselves we begin to roll up a tube. So we made cabbage rolls. How to wrap the edges? Very simple. We fill them in and press. The product turns out in the form of a small whetstone.
As you can see, we used leaflets of the same shape, but in the end we got completely different results. But in any case, you get pretty, little cabbage rolls. How to wrap them up will be more convenient for you, decide for yourself. Be sure to try several options and choose the best one for yourself.
What good small cabbage rolls are (2-3 cm in size) is that they are great for a festive table as a snack. Very comfortable, beautiful and tasty.
Stuffed cabbage in grape leaves
You can also cook unusual cabbage rolls, wrapping them in grape instead of a cabbage leaf.
To prepare according to this recipe, you need to stock up on the following products:
- Leaves of grapes - 60 pcs.
- Stuffing - 0.6 kg.
- Meat broth or water.
- Rice - 6 tablespoons.
- Onion - 5 pieces.
- Basil, mint, cilantro, dill.
- Butter - 80 g.
- Vegetable oil - 80 g.
- Salt pepper.
To make the sauce:
- Natural sour cream or yogurt.
- Garlic - 4 cloves.
- Salt.
- Cilantro, parsley, basil.
The leaves of the grapes need to be thoroughly washed. Better to take young, the size of a palm. The darker the color of the sheet, the older it is, and therefore coarser. Young, as a rule, light green tint.
So, the leaves need to be folded into a container and pour boiling water for seven minutes. Then pull out and dry a little. Remove the ponytails.
Next, take the onion, peel it and finely chop it. Preheat the pan and fry the vegetable in butter. Rinse well, put in a pan and pour hot water, boil. Then drain.
Rinse all greens well, finely chop. In the pan, put the minced meat, add onion, boiled rice, herbs, salt and pepper to taste there. All must be thoroughly mixed until smooth.
Of course, lamb is usually taken for this dish, but no one forbids you to make a mixture with pork.
As already clear, grape leaves are used in this recipe for wrapping cabbage rolls. They are laid out on the table down with the smooth side. In the middle you need to put the stuffing. First, cover the meat with the two upper edges, and then tuck the sides. Next, twist the tight tube.
At the bottom of the pan you need to put several layers of grape leaves. Above them are cabbage rolls in several layers. Pour them with water or broth, salt a little, cover with a plate and squeeze with something heavy so that the leaves do not unfold during cooking. Stuffed cabbage will be an hour and a half over low heat. Then remove them from the heat and let them brew a little.
Meanwhile, you can make the sauce.
Wash the greens, dry it, finely chop. Chop the garlic too. Combine sour cream with garlic and herbs, slightly salt and mix. It is good when the mixture stands in the refrigerator a little. Stuffed cabbage should be hot, and the sauce should be cold.
Lean stuffed cabbage
In general, there are many options for making cabbage rolls. There are even lean ones. There is absolutely no meat in their filling. Only vegetables and mushrooms. Cooking, in fact, is no different. Only the stuffing will be a little different.
To prepare the filling, you need boiled rice, chopped champignons. Wash tomatoes, peel, cut into cubes. Chop the garlic and herbs. Chop the onions and grate the carrots. Then put them out together in vegetable oil for about five minutes. Fry the mushrooms in another pan.
Combine all of the above ingredients together and mix well. Salt and pepper. That's it, our mince is ready. It remains only to form cabbage rolls.
Instead of an afterword
As you can see, the preparation of cabbage rolls is not such a difficult matter, nor is the process of wrapping them. Use one of the recipes and delight yourself and your family with a delicious dish. Enjoy your meal!