This recipe is for a roaster full of luscious hunky stuffed cabbage

 

2 large heads of cabbage

12-15 lbs. Ground beef

1 to ½ cups minute rice uncooked

2 eggs

2 cans tomato sauce

1 can crushed tomatoes

2 cans sauerkraut

 

Place water between the roaster pan and the roaster itself so that there is moisture to keep it from burning as it cooks.  Just enough so that it doesn't overflow the water with the pan and weight of food inserted.

 

Place beef in large bowl and mix with minute rice and eggs thoroughly.

 

Cut core out of cabbage deeply and at a cone like angle.  This allows the leaves to easily fall off when boiling.  Place large pot of water on the stove and heat to boiling.  Start the cabbage core side down in the pot and cook over medium heat.  After appx. 5 minutes, start to peel each leaf with tongs away as they become softened and remove to a strainer.  Keep rotating the cabbage and removing leaves until they are too small to roll cabbage.  Do not overcook!  They should still be firm but pliable.  Take the remaining  small piece of cabbage out and let it cool.  Do the same with the second head of cabbage.

 

Layer a small amount of tomato sauce on the bottom of the pan.  Take small amount of beef mixture and place at the thickest end of the cabbage leaf.  Roll half turn, then fold in one of the sides.  Finish rolling and then gently use your thumb to push in the remaining leaf so that it is held together.  Line the bottom of the roaster with rolled cabbage.  Cover cabbage with 1/3 to ½ can of sauce. and then add half the amount of crushed tomatoes as the sauce that you used.   Place a layer of sauerkraut over top of crushed tomatoes.

 

Continue layering  these together until complete.  End with a coating of tomato sauce on top.  Cover and cook on 350 for one hour.  Turn the temperature down to 250 and cook for about 3-4 hours.  Check occasionally and add water if it looks too dry.  Stir occasionally but not often so that the cabbage rolls don't fall apart.  Enjoy!!

 

Tips for Olga’s cabbage: 

-You can never have too much sauerkraut.

-The longer you cook it, the better! (on low heat of course.)

-2 to 1 ration on sauce to crushed tomatoes. Use half the amount of crushed tomatoes as tomato sauce.

-The ground beef is usually 85/15.

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Diane’s Tip:  (hope Mom forgives me).  Unstuffed cabbage is much quicker and easier to prepare.  Instead of pre-cooking cabbage, simply cut it up into bite sized pieces and layer with the other ingredients.  You would shape the beef mixture into large meatball size cylindrical shapes.  When cooked, it looks like the rolled cabbage fell apart,

but it tastes just as good!