Smoked Cabbage Rolls
I have to admit that I am not the biggest fan of cabbage rolls. It's just not something I grew up with, but I can appreciate that for some people, cabbage rolls are a comfort food classic. I will also admit, that cabbage rolls are not usually a recipe you would make on the bbq, but, I find that some of the best things I've made on the Alchemy bbq, were not originally intended to be made on the bbq, so I had to give these a try. And it worked out. Like, really, really well. These were so good.
I decided to use pork sausage for my cabbage rolls, but in theory you can easily replace it with ground beef or chicken. Part of the secret to great cabbage rolls, is that the stuffing needs to be seasoned properly. I used chopped onion, garlic, oregano, paprika, an egg and lemon zest and mixed it with minute rice. Also a very important step, is to use the Alchemy smoker to cook your cabbage rolls. The hit of smoky flavour is infused throughout the whole dish, bringing new complexity to the meat in the cabbage rolls and the delicious tomato sauce it's cooked in. I topped it all off with sour cream and chopped chives and it was an insanely good dish. I would definitely make these again. If you want to learn how to make my Smoked Cabbage Rolls, keep reading or jump to the full recipe.
Set smoker to 350F. Place a pot of water on the elevated grill rack and bring to a boil. Cut out the stem of the cabbage.
Add the cabbage to the pot of water and cover. Cook until the cabbage is just softened and the leaves can be pulled off easily.
While the cabbage is cooking, prepare the filling. Remove the sausage from their casings and add to a bowl.
Add uncooked rice and season with oregano, pepper and one egg. Finely chop the onion and add to the bowl. Grate in the garlic and lemon zest.
Mix well, using your hands is the best way to do this. Season with salt and paprika and mix.
Add a small pot to the plancha and heat up the passata. Keep the bottles of passata for later.
Once hot, add about ¼ cup to a 1/3 cup passata to a large cast iron pan, spread to create a thin layer on the bottom of the pan.
Remove 5 cabbage leaves from the head and place on your work surface.
Slice off the spine of each piece of cabbage.
Fill with the sausage mixture and roll, folding each side in and then tucking and rolling the cabbage to seal in the mixture (think like a mini burrito). Do this until all the filling is done.
Pull a couple of leaves of cabbage and fold and place on the bottom of your cast iron pan.
Lay the cabbage rolls on top of the 'sacrificial' pieces of cabbage and add the passata over top.
Fill one empty bottle of passata halfway with water, shake and pour into the pot that was holding the hot passata.
Then pour the passata and water mixture into the cast iron pan for additional liquid. Season with salt.
Place the cabbage rolls in the smoker for 30 minutes or until cooked through.
Remove cabbage rolls from the smoker and squeeze the juice of one lemon on top.
o Plate, place the cabbage rolls down and top with sauce from the pan. Season with salt and pepper, dollops of sour cream and chopped chives.
And now for the full recipe...
Smoked Cabbage Rolls
Makes 5-6 cabbage rolls
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Ingredients:
1 green cabbage
1 cup minute rice
5 Italian sausages (aprox 1-1.5 lbs of meat)
1 egg
2 cloves garlic
Zest and juice from 1 lemon
1/3 white onion
1 tbsp oregano
1 tbsp paprika
1 tbsp salt
½ tsp black pepper
2 jars passata
4-5 tbsp sour cream (full fat)
Chopped chives, for garnish
How to Make Smoked Cabbage Rolls
Set smoker to 350F.
Place a pot of water on the elevated grill rack and bring to a boil. Cut out the stem of the cabbage and add to the pot of water and cover. Cook until the cabbage is just softened and the leaves can be pulled off easily.
While the cabbage is cooking, prepare the filling. Remove the sausage from their casings and add to a bowl. Add uncooked rice and season with oregano, pepper and one egg. Finely chop the onion and add to the bowl. Grate in the garlic and lemon zest. Mix well, using your hands is the best way to do this. Season with salt and paprika and mix.
Add a small pot to the plancha and heat up the passata. Keep the bottles of passata for later. Once hot, add about ¼ cup to a 1/3 cup passata to a large cast iron pan, spread to create a thin layer on the bottom of the pan.
Remove 5 cabbage leaves from the head and place on your work surface. Slice off the spine. Fill with the sausage mixture and roll, folding each side in and then tucking and rolling the cabbage to seal in the mixture (think like a mini burrito). Do this until all the filling is done. Pull a couple of leaves of cabbage and fold and place on the bottom of your cast iron pan. Lay the cabbage rolls on top. Add the passata over top. Fill one empty bottle of passata halfway with water, shake and pour into the pot that was holding the hot passata, then pour that into the cast iron pan for additional liquid. Season with salt. Place in the smoker for 30 minutes to cook through.
Remove cabbage rolls from the smoker and squeeze the juice of one lemon on top. To Plate, place the cabbage rolls down and top with sauce from the pan. Season with salt and pepper, dollops of sour cream and chopped chives.
