Vegetarian Cabbage Rolls

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Vegetarian cabbage rolls or meatless stuffed cabbage with tomatoes and feta cheese, this is an aromatic, elegant meal fit for a celebration.

After so many cabbage or vine leaf rolls filled with meat or fish, such as the Stuffed Vine Leaves, the Vine Stuffed Leaves with Fish, Bacon and Rice, and the Easy Stuffed Savoy Cabbage, here is a recipe for meatless stuffed cabbage rolls with millet and feta.

I love cooking and eating grains or similar, things like millet, bulgur, couscous or buckwheat. I grew up in Romania and it seems that the only grains we ever had there were wheat in form of bread or corn in form of polenta.

Millet was the first cereal except for wheat and corn that I have ever cooked and eaten. And I loved it from the first moment. That was about 12-13 years ago.

How to prepare cabbage leaves for filling?

This recipe is made with fresh white or green cabbage. In order to get the cabbage leaves ready to stuff you will have to make them soft and pliable. The procedure is pretty easy, but it does require a bit of patience.

• Remove the protruding core of your cabbage. Then make incisions with a small sharp knife around the core, about 4-6 incisions around the core. Try to loosen the core by cutting through it from one incision to the other, like making lots of X signs. When the core is loose enough start removing it piece by piece cutting here and there to make it looser. (1,2)

• To soften the cabbage leaves bring a very large pot of water to a boil. The pot should be able to hold the entire cabbage head easily. When the water boils, add a good splash of vinegar and some salt. Carefully place the cabbage into the pot with the hole facing down.
• Cook it for about 10 minutes, then turn it in and start removing the leaves. You will do that with the help of two forks, scratching and pulling at the edges of the hole. If they don’t come off easily continue cooking the cabbage until they start to come off. Be careful not to scald your hands with the boiling water.
• You will only be able to remove one or two layers of leaves at a time. Keep turning the cabbage in the pot from time to time.
• After removing some leaves, leave them to drain and cool down in a large colander and continue cooking the rest of the cabbage until you are able to remove all the leaves. The leaves should be really pliable.

• Prepare them for filling. Cut the lower part of the leaf where the stem is very thick and try to cut the stem thinner with a sharp knife, which you will lead over the thicker upper side of the stem.
• Roll the cabbage rolls. Place some filling at the base of the cabbage leaf, fold the lower side over the filling, then the right side of the leaf over the meat and roll. Stuff the left side of the leaf with your finger inside the roll.

• This stuffed vegetarian cabbage rolls recipe makes at least 10 rolls, probably more, depending on how large you make the rolls. Just keep going until there is no more filling left.
• Use the leftover cabbage for other recipes, for instance, soup or salad.

How to serve?

Serve immediately or reheated. The meatless stuffed cabbage rolls are always even better when reheated. You can also freeze them in airtight containers for 2-3 months.

We mostly have them with bread, for instance, Flaxseed Bread or Bread Rolls.

More stuffed cabbage?

Vegetarian Cabbage Rolls

Vegetarian cabbage rolls or meatless stuffed cabbage with tomatoes and feta cheese, this is an aromatic, elegant meal fit for a celebration.

5 from 3 votes

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Course: Vegetarian

Cuisine: Romanian

Prep Time: 1 hour

Cook Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 2 hours

Servings: 6

Calories: 127kcal

Author: Adina

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Ingredients 

• ▢ 1 medium white or green cabbage
• ▢ 1/2 cup millet 100 g/ 3.5 oz
• ▢ 1 cup vegetable broth 250 ml/ 8.5 fl.oz
• ▢ 4 sun-dried tomatoes
• ▢ 3.5 oz feta cheese 100 g
• ▢ 1 small egg
• ▢ 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• ▢ 2 medium onions
• ▢ 1 tablespoon olive oil
• ▢ 5-10 cherry tomatoes depending on their size
• ▢ vegetable broth to cook the rolls at least 1 cup, more if necessary, depends on the size of your pot
• ▢ 1 bunch parsley
• ▢ fine sea salt and pepper

Instructions

Prepare the leaves:

• Prepare cabbage leaves: Remove the core of the cabbage. Cut the protruding part of the core.

  Then make incisions with a small sharp knife around the core, about 4-6 incisions around the core.

  Try to loosen the core by cutting through it from one incision to another, like making many X signs. When the core is loose enough, start removing it piece by piece, cutting it here and there to make it looser.
• To soften the cabbage leaves, bring a very large pot of water to a boil. The pot should be able to hold the entire cabbage head easily. When the water boils, add a good splash of vinegar and some salt.
• Cook: Carefully place the cabbage into the pot with the hole facing down. Cook it for about 10 minutes, turn it around and start removing the leaves. You will do that with the help of two forks, scratching and pulling at the edges of the hole.

  If they don't come off easily continue cooking the cabbage until they start to come off. Be careful not to scald your hands with the boiling water.
• You will only be able to remove one or two layers of leaves at a time, so patience is required. Keep turning the cabbage in the pot from time to time.
• Drain: After removing some leaves, leave them to drain and cool down in a large colander and continue cooking the rest of the cabbage until you are able to remove all the leaves. The leaves should be really pliable.
• Trim leaves: When the leaves are cool enough to handle, you will have to prepare them for filling. Cut the lower part of the leaf where the stem is very thick and try to cut the stem thinner with a sharp knife, which you will lead over the thicker upper side of the stem.

Filling:

• Cook millet: Wash the millet in a fine-mesh sieve. Place it into a pot together with the finely chopped sun-dried tomatoes, add 250 ml/ 1 cup of the vegetable broth and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down to low, cover well, and let simmer for about 10 minutes.
• Chop cabbage leftovers: In the meantime, weigh about 100 g/ 3.5 oz of the small inner leaves of the cabbage, the ones that you will not be able to fill anyway. Chop them finely.
• Add them to the pot with the millet. Continue cooking for about 10-12 minutes. Check from time to time and add more broth if the mixture seems too dry; however, keep in mind that the liquid should be entirely absorbed by the end of the cooking process.
• Combine filling: Transfer the millet to a bowl and leave it cool slightly before adding the cheese and the egg. Add the crumbled cheese, the lightly beaten egg, and the dried oregano. Adjust the taste with salt and pepper.

Make the rolls:

• Fill rolls: Place about 1 tablespoon of the filling at the base of the cabbage leaf, fold the lower side over the filling, then the right side of the leaf over the meat and roll.
• Roll: Stuff the left side of the leaf with your finger inside the roll. If some of the leaves are too small or broken, you can overlap two leaves to make one roll.

Cook:

• Heat the oil in a large, deeper pan or Dutch oven. Fry the cabbage rolls until nicely browned on both sides.
• Chop onions: In the meantime, halve the onions and slice the halves thinly. Add the onions to the pot and cook them shortly.
• Arrange in the pot: Add the chopped cherry tomatoes between the rolls. Lift the rolls, if necessary, to make some space for the onions and tomatoes, they should be underneath and between the rolls.
• Simmer: Add enough vegetable broth to barely cover the cabbage rolls. Cover, bring to a boil, turn the heat down and simmer for about 30 minutes or until the cabbage rolls are soft. Remove the rolls from the pan and keep them warm.

Sauce:

• The sauce should be reduced by this time. If you think you still have too much liquid in the pot, let the sauce boil, uncovered, for a few minutes, until the liquid is reduced.
• Adjust taste: Add about 2/3 of the chopped parsley to the pot, let the sauce bubble shortly, and adjust the taste with salt and pepper. Sprinkle the cabbage rolls with the remaining parsley and serve them with the sauce.

Nutrition

Serving: 1/6 of the dish | Calories: 127kcal | Carbohydrates: 12g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 38mg | Sodium: 600mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 5g

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