Finnish Cabbage Rolls

For couple of weeks now I have been waiting for the weather to turn more fall like with cooler days and crispier nights to cook one of my all time favorite fall foods, Cabbage Rolls. While the weather at least on the East Coast hasn’t been co-operating with almost 90F/32C temperatures, I got tired of waiting and decided to go ahead.

One of my favorite fall memories growing up on a farm was when we got the cabbage from the new harvest and my mother would make Cabbage Rolls, one of the Finnish staples. They are savory, delicious and addictive and I just have to have them at least once every fall. While there are as many recipes for these around there as there are cooks, I am sharing the one I used. My version has more spice than the traditional recipes but that can be easily adjusted. Also these are very adaptable. In the old times there was less meat and more other fillings, you can even chop the cut off parts of veins and add to the filling. Today many cooks make them vegetarian with mushrooms.

While this isn’t fancy or difficult to make, you will need some patience and time so they definitely are not a quick weeknight dinner. And you’ll need quite a few dishes!

My cabbage was about 4 lbs and I didn’t use all of it as I only made 12 rolls. You can definitely make more, just use less filling in each of them. Traditionally these are served with lingonberry preserves, but you can also make gravy from the drippings in the pan.

INGREDIENTS:

1 Green Cabbage (~4 lbs)

Salt

1/2 cup Arborio rice

1 1/2 cup Beef broth

1 lb Ground Beef

1/2 cup Breadcrumbs

1/2 cup Half & Half

1 large Yellow onion

2 cloves Garlic

1 tablespoon Olive oil

2 tablespoons Marjoram

Salt and freshly ground Black Pepper to taste

Dark syrup (Maple Syrup will work too)

1/2 cup Cabbage water

Butter

STEPS:

1. Pick a large enough pot so your cabbage will fit in comfortably. Fill the pot with water and bring to boil. While the water is boiling, prepare the cabbage, remove the outermost leaves and cut out the hard stalk from the bottom. When the water is boiling, add at least a teaspoon of salt and carefully place the whole cabbage in the boiling water.

2. While the cabbage is cooking, heat up the beef broth and cook the Arborio rice in it for 10 min. You can also cook the rice in salted water, the beef broth just brings more depth of flavor.

3. Combine Half and Half with the breadcrumbs in a large mixing bowl and let stand while the rice is cooking.

4. Chop the onions and garlic and saute them in the olive oil, until soft, do not let them brown.

5. Discard the excess beef broth from the rice, and add the rice, onions and garlic, ground beef, marjoram, salt and pepper to the breadcrumbs. Mix thoroughly (I prefer to use my hands as that way the filling mixes more evenly)

6. Check your cabbage, you should be able to start peeling leaves whole from it. Be careful, the leaves are very hot!

7. Tip: cut off part of the bottom vein, that way the leaves are easier to fold.

8. Set the leaves one by one on a cutting board and add 2 spoons of filling on each, then fold them like envelopes. Set the rolls with the seam side down on a baking dish in single layer. When the rolls are all done, add 1/2 cup of the cabbage water to the dish, sprinkle with syrup and top everything with few specks of butter.

9. Bake in a 425F oven for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat to 375F and bake for an additional 60 min. Make sure to check on the rolls so they won’t dry out and add more cabbage water if needed.