Description
These cute little cabbage bundles are stuffed full of flavor, fired up with spicy chorizo and braised in a sweet carrot tomato sauce. Presentation points alone are sure to impress your guests. Relax at you next dinner party and make both the cabbage rolls and the sauce one to three days ahead of time; simply bring to room temperature before you reheat and serve.
Scale
Ingredients
- 1 cabbage, cored, 10-15 large individual leaves removed, stem section of leaves remove the as well
- 7–12 green onion tops or onion tops, the longer they are the less you’ll need
- 1 pound chorizo, remove from casings if links
- ½ onion, finely chopped
- 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
- 1 bunch kale, stems removed, leaves finely chopped
- 2 carrots, grated using large holes of a box grater
- ½ Fresno chile, cored, seeded if desired, and finely chopped
- 1 cup cooked basmati rice
- Olive oil, as needed
- salt and freshly ground pepper, season as you go
- 1 baguette, cut into slices, lose the baguette to make Gluten-free
- Good-quality extra-virgin olive oil for finishing
- Basil Oil for finishing
- lemon basil and/or regular basil leaves hand-torn for garnish
- Micro chives for garnish
- Fleur de sel, for finishing
For the Carrot and Tomato Sauce
- 7–9 medium-sized tomatoes, roughly chopped
- ½ onion, chopped
- 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
- ½ Fresno chile, cored, seeded if desired, and finely chopped
- 2 cups fresh carrot juice
- 2 cups vegetable juice (we used Biotta brand)
- Olive oil, as needed
- salt and freshly ground pepper, season as you go
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and prepare an ice bath. Blanch cabbage leaves to soften, about 2 minutes. Remove and cool immediately in ice bath. Lay cooled leaves out on clean kitchen towels and pat dry to remove moisture. Repeat blanching and cooling process with green onion tops.
- Make the carrot and tomato sauce: Coat one of the heavy bottomed pots with olive oil followed by the sauce ingredients; onion, garlic, and Fresno chile. Cook for about 2-3 minutes. Add the tomatoes, carrot juice, vegetable juice, salt and pepper. Cook until it’s richened up and reduced by about half, about 25-30 minutes.
- Make the chorizo stuffing: Coat a preheated heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high heat with olive oil and crumble chorizo. Sauté for 8–10 minutes to brown the sausage, then add kale and Fresno chile and cook for another 10–12 minutes, until kale starts to soften. Stir in onions, garlic, and carrots and sauté for 3 minutes, then add rice and season generously with pepper and a little salt, if needed. Stir to combine, then spread out filling on a baking sheet to cool.
- Assemble cabbage rolls: Lay out a dry cabbage leaf on a work surface and spoon 2–3 tablespoons chorizo filling into the center. Roll up leaf around filling as if you were making a burrito, tucking in both ends as you go. If leaf is not large enough to fully enclose filling, place cabbage roll on top of a second large leaf and roll to enclose the open ends. Or arrange 2–3 smaller cabbage leaves so they overlap to create a larger surface area, then roll them up around the filling.
- Tie cabbage roll closed, by tightly wrap a long piece of green onion lengthwise around roll and secure with two overhand knots. Repeat with remaining chorizo filling, cabbage leaves, and scallion greens to make about 8 cabbage rolls total.
- Cook cabbage rolls: Preheat a braiser (or any heavy-bottomed pan wide enough to fit all the cabbage rolls in a single layer) over medium heat. Coat cabbage rolls on both sides with olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and arrange in the hot pan. Pour tomato sauce over rolls, cover pan, and cook for 15–20 minutes, until rolls are tender and heated through. Meanwhile, drizzle baguette slices with olive oil and toast them on a grill or in a broiler.
- Plate cabbage rolls, spooning tomato sauce on top, and drizzle with a little nice olive oil and basil oil(if using). Garnish with hand-torn basil leaves, micro chives, and a sprinkling of fleur de sel. Serve grilled bread alongside.
Notes
- A Murdoc cabbage is ideal for this because of it’s conical shape and larger leaves.
- To make tying the cabbage rolls easier and for added length, tie two green onion tops together.
- Category: entrée
- Method: sauté, braise
Keywords: chorizo, stuffed cabbage