Cabbage rolls

There are soooo many variations to this dish, and you can lean it in any flavor direction you want.

The version I made typically cooks further in a tomato sauce, but I didnt want to do that, instead using the tomato sauce as a dipping element but you can do it any way you want.

You can use any ground meat for this dish too, or keep it vegetarian.

I chose beef as I liked the flavor with the spices more.

Prep time: 15 mins

Cooking time: 20 mins

Serves: 4 (6 rolls each)

Ingredients

1 large Chinese cabbage, end removed

150g minced beef

1/2 large brown onion

1 large garlic clove, finely chopped

10 cherry tomatoes, quartered

20g mushrooms, finely chopped

2 tbs fresh parsley, finely chopped

1/2 tsp black pepper

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp ground coriander seeds

1/2 tsp dried oregano

1/4 tsp paprika powder

1/2 cup baby spinach, finely sliced

1 tbsp fresh basil, finely sliced

1 cup cooked rice (I used leftover cooked rice, you can cook fresh if you like)

1 pinch chili flakes

3 tbsp tomato sugo or similar

Method

1. Chop the end of your Chinese cabbage off, so just the full leaves remain. Cook in boiling salted water until soft, then remove and set aside.

2. Sautee your chopped onions and oregano.

3. Once softened, add in the garlic, tomatoes, parsley and mushrooms. Season with salt and pepper.

4. When the ingredients are soft and cooked through, add in the beef mince, stirring and breaking it up until just cooked with the ground coriander, paprika and ground cumin.

5. After combined, add the rice, spinach and basil.

6. Taste the mixture to ensure it doesnt need any final seasoning, then sprinkle with chili flakes, mix, and take off the heat.

7. Lay a cabbage leave out on a board, inside facing up. Place a heaped teaspoon 1/4 of the way up from the leave base, and roll the leaf upwards, tucking the sides in so that the mixture ends up in a cabbage parcel. Repeat for the rest of the leaves and mixture.

8. Serve with sauce on the side.

Notes

• You can add crumbled feta or chopped black olives at the end for extra flavor.

• If you want to serve it in a more traditional way, and make it more of a meal than a snack, bring about 2 cups of tomato sauce/sugo to the boil, and place the parcels in the sauce. Let it simmer on low for 15 minutes before serving.

• If you're not a fan of the tomato sauce, but still want extra flavor, you can pan fry the wrapped parcels on a saucepan sprayed with olive oil. The char on the lettuce leaves will add extra flavor.