Cabbage rolls with sauerkraut leaves, beef and rice in a tomato sauce

In her new cookbook, “Kapusta: Vegetable-Forward Recipes from Eastern Europe,” Alissa Timoshkina calls cabbage rolls “a culinary genre in their own right.”

There are variations across the region, all involving cabbage leaves stuffed with a filling and poached in a sauce.

“This seemingly simple dish holds the key to a fascinating story of Eastern Europe, celebrating both its shared history and its regional diversity,” she writes.

Cabbage rolls, or stuffed cabbage, can be eaten as a main course. Some recipes call for fresh leaves while others use fermented ones. Timoshkina encourages cooks to experiment.

For a vegetarian version, substitute mushrooms for the beef.

Serves 6-8

Ingredients

For the rolls:

1/2 cup long grain white rice

vegetable oil, for frying

1 onion, peeled and finely diced

1 carrot, peeled and grated

4–6 garlic cloves, finely chopped

400 grams ground beef (3/4 cup to 1 cup)

1 small bunch of dill, finely chopped

1 tablespoon ground coriander

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

10–12 fermented or fresh cabbage leaves

4 bay leaves

salt and black pepper, to taste

For the sauce:

400 grams diced tomatoes

1 heaped teaspoon brown sugar

1 cup beef stock

Directions

Parboil the rice (check the packet instructions and halve the time) in very salty water, then drain and set aside.

Heat some vegetable oil in a large frying pan or casserole (Dutch oven) and fry the onion and carrot over medium heat with a generous pinch of salt for 10–12 minutes, until golden and soft. Add the garlic, stir through and take off the heat.

Empty the contents into a large mixing bowl, add the beef, rice, dill, coriander and paprika, then give everything a thorough mix.

Preheat the oven to 200°C.

To make the rolls, place a cabbage leaf on a chopping board and add a heaped tablespoon of the filling onto the lower end of the leaf. Roll up the leaf as you would a burrito, tucking in the edges as you go. Place seam-side down into the casserole used to fry the vegetables. Repeat with all the leaves and filling.

Nestle the rolls tightly into the dish, ideally into one layer, but you can make two, depending on the size and shape of your dish. Stick the bay leaves in between your rolls.

To make the sauce, season the tomatoes with the sugar, then add salt and pepper to taste. Mix with the stock and pour over the rolls.

Cover with a lid and bake for 2 hours, then remove the lid and bake for a further 10 minutes for the leaves to caramelize on top.

Serve with mashed potatoes or some bread.

Adapted from “Kapusta: Vegetable-Forward Recipes from Eastern Europe,” by Alissa Timoshkina (Penguin Random House UK)

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