Polish Meat, Rice and Tomato Sauce Cabbage Rolls

Cabbage Rolls:
- 1 head green cabbage - about 1kg.
- 400g or about 1lb extra lean ground beef.
- 1 1/3 cup white rice (you can use brown as well).
- 1 medium onion, chopped.
- 1 tbsp oil.
- Salt, pepper.

Sauce:
- 1 can tomato paste (156mL).
- 2 tsp OXO beef (reduced sodium).
- 5 tbsp enriched white flour.
- 1 cup water saved from cabbage.
- Salt, pepper.

Cabbage Rolls:
- Start by putting on a large pot of water to boil.
- In the meantime, cut out the center of the head of cabbage (the cabbage I used was 1kg). Immerse the head in a bowl of hot, salted water and let sit for a couple of minutes. Then, carefully begin to peel the leaves off of the head (do the whole head). You may need to pour out the water and get new hot water - this is the key to easy peeling.
- When water comes to a boil, add the cabbage leaves to the large pot. Add a dash of salt. Boil for about seven minutes on medium heat, then turn the heat off, but do not drain.
- Chop medium onion into small pieces. Fry in 1 tablespoon oil on medium heat until browned and cooked through. Add salt to taste.
- At this point, you can drain your cabbage and set it out on a plate in separate leaves to cool. Save 1 cup of the cabbage water for later.
- In a separate pot, bring water to a boil and add 1 1/3 cup of white rice (you can use brown). Cook rice on medium heat for about ten minutes or until almost fully cooked. Drain.
- In a large bowl, combine the rice, onions, and beef and mix very well, making sure there are no big clumps of meat. Add 2 packages of OXO beef reduced sodium (2 tsp) and pepper to taste. Mix well.
- When cabbage has cooled off, it's time to start rolling. Take a leaf of cabbage, put in a handful of the meat and rice mixture, enough so that the ends of the cabbage just close over. Squeeze into a tight ball! Some more cabbage water will run out as you squeeze.
- Arrange the cabbage rolls in a casserole dish - one layer cooks the fastest.
- Use 1/4 can tomato paste (the can I used was 156mL) and mix this with the saved cup of cabbage water - pour over top of the cabbage rolls in the casserole dish.
- Place in 350 degree oven; cook for about an hour.




Sauce:
- It's easiest to make the sauce while the cabbage rolls are in the oven!
- Bring 3 cups of water to a boil.
- In the meantime, add 5 tablespoons of white enriched flour to 1 cup of cold water and blend very well until there are no clumps.
- When the water comes to a boil, turn the heat down to medium, add the flour and water mixture through a strainer, and VERY QUICKLY STIR consistently, making sure that no clumps form. The key is to stir constantly and quickly to make sure no lumps form. When the mixture thickens and comes to a very low boil, turn to low heat.
- In a cup, blend 3/4 can of tomato paste (156mL can) with a bit of water so that the mixture is smooth.
- Add this tomato paste to the flour and water mixture on medium heat and stir together until well-blended. Add 1 teaspoon of salt, mix, and remove from heat.
- Pour desired amount over freshly baked cabbage rolls - delish!



- This recipe made 16 medium-sized cabbage rolls.
- The calorie amount per serving is per one cabbage roll and 1/16 of the sauce.

Number of Servings: 16

Recipe submitted by SparkPeople user NOGIRLSOSWEET.