There are some foods that just taste like a warm cosy hug and Nonna Elda’s Italian Cabbage Rolls are one of them. These delicious savoury rolls take a little bit of work, but they’re worth the effort. They’re also a fun recipe to make together with your family, friends, and partner. Rolling up the little packages of delicious meat takes some delicacy!
One of the main secrets to Nonna’s recipe is making sure you get all three different types of rice, white long grain, brown grain, and Arborio. Nonna loves to mix rice kinds when making different recipes.
You can also reserve some of the excess rice to serve on it’s own with a little cheese and olive oil. Nonna’s favourite simple dish for when you’re feeling under the weather.
Nonna recommends always using a Savoy cabbage, although you can use other kinds of cabbage if you must, the Savoy leaves are easier to work with and don’t tear.
You will have left over cabbage but don’t throw it away! You can use the left over heart of the cabbage to make a delicious coleslaw, or fry it up with some pasta, potatoes, or beans. For a nutritious meal that’s easy on the wallet and great for the colon.
These cabbage rolls don’t cost a lot to make, but they do take a little bit of time. The pay off is you can make tons of rolls to feed a big hungry family or party, or you can freeze some for a later date!
servings: 20 Rolls
prepping time: 2 Hours
cooking time: 40 min
Ingredients
- 2 Savoy Cabbages
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 tbsp cooking oil
- 300 grams ground pork
- 300 grams ground beef
- 1/2 cup white wine
- Salt, Pepper, chili flakes
- Basil & Parsley handful
- 5 cups tomato sauce (see Nonna’s vol.1 cookbook for her Tomato Sauce Recipe)
- 0.5 cup long grain white rice
- 0.5 cup long grain brown rice
- 0.5 cup Arborio rice
- 2 egg yolks
- 2 cups parmigiano cheese
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella
- 3 tbsp Italian breadcrumbs
Directions
- Peel the savoy cabbage, about 20 of the biggest leaves
- Boil the cabbage leaves two minutes, flip, boil 2 more min
- Pull the leaves out and lay flat on pizza tray to cool off
- In a large frying pan, fry garlic, then meat, then add wine. Let the wine evaporate
- Season with salt, pepper, chili flakes, basil & parsley to your taste.
- Add 2 cups tomato sauce.
- Rinse all the different kinds of rice thoroughly
- Boil the rice for about 10 minutes, then strain.
- Add the rice to the meat, then add 2 egg yolks, 1 1/2 cup parmigiano cheese, mozzarella, and bread crumbs, mix until sticky.
- Assemble cabbage rolls
- Either place in bag and freeze for up to one month, or put in baking tray, cover with remaining sauce and parmigiano, and bake at 450 for 40 minutes and serve
To watch the tutorial head over to @Nonna.Elda.Cooks on Instagram
Download this recipe PDF free below!
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