Ingredients
- Stuffed Cabbage Casserole
- Serves 10
- This casserole is less time consuming than making individual stuffed cabbage rolls, and has all the flavor. You can use any type of ground meat, and leftover rice. Trader Joe’s has frozen brown rice which is really quick to add to the sauce. You can freeze this casserole after you bake it. Allow to thaw in refrigerator overnight, and cover with foil and place in oven for 20 minutes and then remove foil and continue cooking until the top is lightly browned and bubbling.
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 1 large onion, chopped fine
- 2 celery stalks, chopped (optional)
- 1 red pepper, chopped (optional)
- 1 lb. lean ground beef
- 1 lb. ground pork (or instead 2 lbs. ground turkey, 2 lbs. total all ground beef, or 2 lbs. ground lamb)
- 3 finely minced garlic
- 2 teaspoons dried thyme or 4 teaspoons fresh thyme
- 3 teaspoons sweet Hungarian Paprika
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 2 -15 oz. cans tomato sauce
- salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
- 1 head green cabbage, core removed, coarsely chopped into 1-inch pieces
- 2 cups cooked brown rice, or white rice
- 2 cups mozzarella cheese (you can use low fat)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a large 9 x 13 casserole dish with non-stick spray.
Heat a large frying pan on medium high heat with olive oil. Add onion and sauté until lightly browned - around 4 minutes. Add celery and red pepper and sauté for 4 minutes. Add ground meat and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Cook until it is lightly browned and cooked through, breaking it apart as it cooks. Add the minced garlic and cook 1 minute. Add thyme, paprika, vinegar, brown sugar, salt and pepper to taste, and tomatoes and cook for 20 minutes until slightly thickened. Taste the sauce for a slightly sweet and sour taste and add more vinegar or brown sugar if needed or salt and pepper. Gently stir in rice. (This can be made the day before and refrigerated.)
While sauce simmers, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add cabbage and cook 4 minutes or until almost cooked through. Drain and set aside.
In the casserole dish add 1/3 of the meat sauce on the bottom of pan and evenly distribute. Add ½ of the cabbage and evenly distribute. Sprinkle ½ cup cheese over layer. Add 1/3 of meat sauce and evenly distribute. Add remaining cabbage and evenly distribute. Sprinkle ½ cup cheese over layer. Add remaining meat and sprinkle remaining cheese over top.
Bake for 30 minutes until lightly browned on top. Remove and allow to rest for 5 minutes before serving.
6 WW Points (if using ground turkey)
