Weekend Cooking: Vegan Spicy Stuffed Cabbage Rolls

 
I've always been a bit too intimated to try to make cabbage rolls. Not because I thought they would be difficult to make, but because my oldest sister makes some amazing cabbage rolls, so good that they've kind of become her signature dish and her recipe is a family favorite. She's a great cook who could seriously give Martha a run for her money, so how could I compete with that? Then I finally realized: I can do one better. I can veganize it!

Speaking of Martha (Stewart, that is) I used her recipe here for Stuffed Savoy Cabbage, but just tweaked it a bit to suit my needs and taste.  I didn't use Savoy cabbage however, because I just had regular cabbage on hand to make cole slaw. For my recipe, feel free to use Savoy or regular cabbage. I think that the only difference would be that the Savoy leaves are a bit thinner and more delicate, and will therefore require a bit less steaming/cooking time in order for the leaves to get tender.

A couple other notes about this recipe: you will need cooked brown rice, so allot enough time for the rice to cook, and then cool. Also, most cabbage roll recipes instruct you to steam the entire head of cabbage until the outer leaves are tender, then remove them. This doesn't make any sense to me, because then you just end up with a big head of steamed cabbage that you won't necessarily use. I simply pulled off the outer leaves from the cabbage, and then steamed them on their own. It's much easier, cleaner, and then you still have some raw cabbage to use as you wish.

Vegan Spicy Stuffed Cabbage Rolls
Makes 6 rolls.

For the tomato sauce (makes about 1 1/2 cups):
1 can (14.5 oz) whole peeled plum tomatoes, with juice
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1/2 small onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp. brown sugar
pinch of red pepper flakes
coarse salt

For the stuffed cabbage:
6 large outer leaves removed from head of cabbage
10 oz. vegan sausage (I like Gimme Lean Ground Sausage)
1 cup cooked brown rice
1/2 small onion, chopped
1 Tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped
1/2 tsp. hot paprika
1/4 cup golden raisins

1. Make the tomato sauce: Pulse tomatoes with juice in a food processor or using an immersion blender until finely chopped. Heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, and red pepper flakes. Cook, stirring constantly, until onion is tender, about 5 minutes. Add chopped tomatoes with juice. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, add brown sugar, and simmer, stirring occasionally until slightly thick, about 10-15 minutes. Season with salt and let cool completely.

2. Make the stuffed cabbage: Arrange cabbage leaves in overlapping concentric circles inside a steamer basket. Steam several minutes until leaves are just tender, but still bright and green. Drain and then pat each leaf dry with a kitchen towel.

3. Preheat oven to 375. Either with your hands, or using two forks, gently combine vegan sausage, brown rice, onion, parsley, paprika, and golden raisins.

4. Working with one leaf at a time, trim the thick part of the rib with a paring knife, leaving leaf intact. Spoon about 1/3 - 1/2 cup of filling in the center of each leaf. Fold the stem end of the leaf over the filling, then fold in sides, then carefully roll cabbage over to create a little package. Transfer each roll, seam side down, to a shallow baking dish.

5. Spread sauce over top of stuffed cabbage leaves. Cover with parchment-lined foil and bake until cooked all the way through and cabbage is tender, about 45 minutes.

These cabbage rolls were surprisingly spicy (a little hot paprika goes a long way), with just a hint of sweetness. The "sausage" spices add a lot of nice authentic flavor too. The tomato sauce would be great in any number of different dishes, and just might become my standby tomato sauce recipe. This isn't a quick dish to make, but the result is delicious, and very much worth the wait. I think they might even be better than my sister's, but don't tell her I said that.