Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Un-stuffed cabbage that’s as good as mom’s.

As promised … here’s the Howdygram’s official recipe for Hungarian Un-Stuffed Cabbage, a mighty tasty no-brainer entree that’s fun to feed your family on a cold December night. However, it’s also okay to eat the whole pot all by yourself because it tastes just as good with or without company. I’ve tried it both ways.
  • 2½ lbs. lean ground beef
  • ½ cup raw long-grain rice
  • 1 small onion, minced
  • 2 raw eggs
  • salt and freshly-ground black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon thyme
  • 1 large head of green cabbage
  • 2 cans tomato sauce (8 oz. each)
  • 1 can diced tomatoes with liquid (15 oz.)
  • 1 can tomato paste
  • 2 cups water
  • ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
  • 6 to 8 packets of Equal*
Preheat your oven to 350°. In a bowl blend the tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, water, vinegar and Equal*. Add half the mixture to the bottom of a decent-size roasting pan or large casserole. Coarsely whack up the head of cabbage and add it to the pan. Moosh up the ground beef, rice, onion, eggs and thyme; season with salt and pepper to your taste. Form into jumbo meatballs about 3 inches in diameter and place on the cabbage. Pour the rest of the tomato mixture on top of everything. Cover the pan and bake at 350° for 1 hour; reduce the temperature to 325° and bake for 2 hours more. Then stand back and wait for the stampede.
*Feel free to use ¼ cup of brown sugar instead of Equal.
Keep in mind ... this is a million times faster than the traditional recipe for “stuffed” cabbage rolls because you don’t have to core and parboil a whole cabbage and wrap up each meatball in its own individual leaf. I’m a girl who loves good food, shortcuts and plenty of napkins. Trust me.

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