Lahanodolmathes Greek Cabbage Rolls Recipes

LAHANODOLMATHES (GREEK CABBAGE ROLLS)

Steps:

• Combine the ground meats with the 3 tblsps olive oil, rice, onion, parlsey, celery, carrot, tomato paste, garlic and spearmint. Season with salt and pepper. Knead well to combine everything.
• Place cabbage in a large pot of boiling water and cover pot.
• When the outer leaves are blanched and softened, remove leaf by leaf, keeping the leaves whole, and place flat on a towel on work surface.
• Continue in this way, removing leaves as they become blanched and soft.
• Take some leaves that have not removed in one piece (the worse looking ones, or chop up some cabbage) and put in the bottom of a large pot.
• Take a cabbage leaf and place 2 tblsps of meat filling in the center.
• Fold both sides in and start rolling up, away from you, to make a cylinder, like an egg-roll or cigar. Do this rather loosely to allow for expansion of the meat and rice as it cooks. Lay these neatly in your pot, packing them in next to one another so they hold their shape.
• Continue rolling cabbage leaves until all your filling has been used up and/or you run out of leaves.
• Put more torn cabbage leaves or chopped up cabbage over the cabbage rolls.
• Pour over olive oil, add stock cubes and add enough hot water to just cover the cabbage rolls by ½".
• Weight the cabbage rolls with a plate and bring to the boil (the plate keeps the rolls from moving around too much as they cook, so that they don't unroll).
• Cook for just over an hour.
• Remove from heat.
• Carefully remove cabbage rolls to serving dish and make your sauce using the liquid remaining in pot.
• Beat the eggs with the corn flour and lemon juice.
• Very carefully and very slowly and whisking all the time, start to dribble the hot stock into the egg mixture. Keep doing this until you've added nearly all the stock. This tempers your eggs so that your sauce won't curdle.
• Pour the sauce back into the pot, and cook until the sauce just starts to simmer.
• Remove from heat and serve with the cabbage rolls coated generously with this sauce.
• Another recipe that goes so well eaten with nibbles of feta cheese and crusty bread (as all Greek recipes seem to).

GREEK MEATLESS STUFFED CABBAGE ROLLS WITH RICE

Steps:

• Combine onion, rice, tomatoes, dill, parsley, zucchini, salt, pepper, cumin, and 2/3 cup olive oil in a bowl. Mix well.
• Remove the core of the cabbage and discard. Stick a large fork into the center of the cabbage head.
• Bring a large pot of water to a boil, and immerse the cabbage, leaving the fork in.
• When the outer leaves turn bright green, remove the cabbage using the fork; detach softened leaves and set aside.
• Return cabbage head to the pot and repeat process until all cabbage leaves have been removed.
• If using other types of leaves, blanch leaves in hot water until they soften and turn a darker green. Remove thick stems if necessary. To use large chard leaves, cut in half and fill each half.
• If making large cabbage rolls, use the whole leaf (or half of the large leaves). If making small rolls, tear leaves into 4 parts (for smaller leaves, tear into fewer pieces).
• For large rolls, place a heaping tablespoon of filling 1 inch from the thick end of the cabbage leaf. Fold the bottom over the filling, fold the sides in, and roll up.
• For small rolls, place 1 teaspoon of filling on one side of the leaf part, fold the leaf up over the filling, fold in sides, and roll up. Don't roll too tightly. The rice will need some room to expand during cooking.
• Line the bottom of a large pot with any torn or unused leaves (and trimmed thick stems) and drizzle with the 2 tablespoons of olive oil.
• Place rolls closely together, seam-side down in the pot in 2 to 3 layers, as needed.
• Cover with a plate that fits over the rolls, turned upside down.
• Place the pot over medium heat and bring to a full boil (it will boil with its own liquid).
• Add 1 cup of water (or enough to cover the rolls); when it resumes a full boil, reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes, long enough for the rice to cook.
• Test to make sure rice is fully cooked. Remove the plate.
• In a small bowl, stir the flour into the lemon juice until dissolved. Add several tablespoons of liquid from the pot and stir to combine.
• Pour lemon juice mixture into the pot and shake the pot gently to distribute. Let sit 10 to 20 minutes before serving.
• Serve warm or at room temperature.