Friday, June 8, 2012

Stuffed white cabbage leaves with lentils





This is a first. I like stuffed cabbage leaves but I always use this dark green curly cabbages (like Savoy) to make them, and I never used the round and firm white cabbages that are used to make coleslaw. But I happened to have a big white cabbage and the outer leaves were sort of green... I managed to remove 7 leaves before the cabbage become to compact to pull apart. Then I washed them and boiled them in salted water (which I later used to make vegetable broth for an Asian noodle soup - never waste!). I also boiled a few more cabbage leaves that got broken while I was trying to pull them away: they were going to be used in the filling.




For the filling I used some cooked cabbage leaves, a couple of slices of vegetarian bacon, chopped parsley, breadcrumbs, smoked salt, chili flakes, coriander seeds and smoked garlic. I mushed everything with my hands and divided the filling between the 7 leaves, and then I rolled them up.




I prepared a soffritto with a shallot, half a carrot, a celery stick, and some chopped parsley, all sautéed with a little olive oil. 




I added the cabbage leaves and let them sauté on one side only for a few minutes.




Then I added one cup of tomato passata (Italian tomato sauce) and one cup of vegetable broth. I covered the pot with a lid and let the cabbage rolls simmer for 30 minutes.




After 30 minutes I added the content of a can of Italian brown lentils (their water included) and simmered everything for another 30 minutes.




Well, I just managed to taste one, the other six were two each for the kids and the babysitter (I was teaching that night), to be eaten with bruschetta (actually, just a baguette cut into slices and the brushed with olive oil, sprinkled with salt and baked until golden and crispy, the kids just love it!!). The result? I was pleasantly surprised: I am not a fan of white cabbage, but in this way it tasted great! Pity that I could not get more leaves out of it, maybe I need to boil the whole cabbage and then try to pull off the leaves... next time I will try. Or maybe I will just go back to use my usual Savoy cabbages! :-)




Photos and Recipes by Alessandra Zecchini ©

22 comments:

  1. Strepitosa, amo ogni singolo ingrediente di questa ricetta!!!

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  2. Che carina questa tua idea Alessandra! Gli involtini di verza li faccio spesso, ma questo accompagnamento con le lenticchie non l'ho mai provato, io le adoro! Grazie di cuore per questa bella idea!
    Cioa e buon fine settimana! ^__^ Any

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  3. Lovely idea to make a vegetarian stuffed cabbage... gorgeous photo too!

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  4. Stuffed vegetables always good for health :)

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  5. Involtini gustosissimi con questa cottura in umido, proverò per variare dai soliti che preparo.

    P.S.: la casseruola in ceramica non è troppo pesante, davvero! ;-)

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  6. This looks delicious and healthy would love to try this sometime. I've bookmarked it. : )

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  7. Buonissimo, anch'io preparo gli involtini di verza, questa è un'ottima variante

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  8. I like this veggie version of stuffed cabbage , looks really delicious.

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  9. Anche io penso che ti copierò.....gli involtini li faceva spesso la mia mamma, ma con la carne.
    Questa versione è molto interessante! Da provare. Ciao

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    Replies
    1. Sicuramente più facile da digerire, ricordo quelli di carne... proprio un piatto invernale!

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  10. This reminds me of the cabbage rolls my mom would always make. Now I am craving them! Hugs for a great weekend. xoxo

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  11. It seems that a lot of Mums made stuffed cabbage leaves :-). A classic! My Mum made them too!

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  12. io non ce la posso fare....le foglie mi si spaccano sempre...che siano di vite, di verza, di palma, di cheneso, mi si spaccano.... è uno dei miei innumerevoli talloni d'Achille :)

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  13. I love stuffed cabbage leaves but I have to confess Im a bit lazy to do the whole process, they sound great with the lentils

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    Replies
    1. Cooking times are a bit long, but all in all it is much easier than making stuffed pasta :-).

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  14. That really sounds good to me, I love cabbage and this sounds like another good way to use it. Diane

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  15. Bravissima,carina!Questa ricettina e veramente originale!Da provare!Un bacione:)

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  16. This looks like a wonderful dish - I've never eaten stuffed cabbage - but I would dive into this in a moment - thanks for sharing
    Mary x

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  17. My mum's best dish was stuffed cabbage. If you boil the cabbage for a short period in a lot of water then you will be able to get more leaves of ;-)

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    Replies
    1. Yes, what I am planning to do next time :-).

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  18. Every Friday, I share my favorite food finds in a series called Food Fetish Friday. These stuffed cabbage leaves were recommended to me by Anneli from the Delicieux blog - and I'm so glad she introduced me to your blog. I'm featuring this post as part of the Friday roundup (with a link-back and attribution) and I hope you have no objections. It's a pleasure following your creations…

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