Vegetarian and gluten free cabbage rolls stuffed with millet, tomatoes and feta cheese.
After so many cabbage or vine leaf rolls filled with meat or fish, like these Stuffed Vine Leaves with Ground Meat and Rice, the Vine Stuffed Leaves with Fish, Bacon and Rice and the Easy Stuffed Savoy Cabbage with Minced Meat, here is another vegetarian recipe for cabbage rolls: Vegetarian Cabbage Rolls with Millet, Tomatoes 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. After settling in Germany, it didn’t take long for me to discover other kind of grains. I am curious when it comes to food, so the first time I saw millet in the supermarket I just had to buy, those little, perfectly round corns were just to pretty to resist.
Yes, millet was the first cereal except wheat and corn that I have ever cooked and eaten. And I loved it from the first moment. There was a time, about 12-13 years ago, when my husband and I used to eat lots of millet, mostly in form of a vegetable and often cheesy casserole. Or a vegetable millet casserole without the cheese but with lots and lots of garlic sour cream sauce. So good!
Since then I have discovered other kind of grains as well, so millet doesn’t make an appearance on our menu that often, but still I do cook it from time to time and we just love it. Even the kids, especially my daughter. 🙂 I have a few other recipes with millet on Where Is My Spoon if you would like some more ideas, for instance these Zucchini Fillet with Millet, Feta and Parmesan or this Somali Corn in Coconut Turmeric Sauce, which is served with millet.
How to prepare cabbage leaves for filling:
These particular Vegetarian Cabbage Rolls with Millet, Tomatoes and Feta are made with fresh white cabbage. In order to get the cabbage leaves ready for stuffing you will have to make them soft and pliable first. The procedure is pretty easy, but it does require a bit of patience.
Remove the hard core of your cabbage. First cut away 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 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.
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 give the cabbage head to 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, so patience is required. 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.
When the leaves are cool enough to handle, you will have to prepare them for filling. Cut away 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 recipe for Vegetarian Cabbage Rolls with Millet, Tomatoes and Feta makes at least 10 cabbage 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 a nice and healthy cabbage soup or a cabbage salad.
Ingredients
- 1 medium white cabbage
- 100 g/ 3.5 oz/ ½ cup millet
- 250 ml/ 1 cup vegetable broth
- 4 sun-dried tomatoes
- 100 g/ 3.5 oz feta cheese
- 1 small egg
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 medium onions
- 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
- salt and pepper
Instructions
Start with preparing the leaves for filling. Remove the hard core of the cabbage. First cut away 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 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.
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 give the cabbage head to 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, so patience is required. 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.
When the leaves are cool enough to handle, you will have to prepare them for filling. Cut away 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:
Wash the millet in a fine mesh sieve. Give it to 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.
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. Give 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 completely absorbed at the end of the cooking process. Give 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.
Roll the cabbage 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. 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.
Heat the oil in a large, deeper pan or Dutch oven. Fry the cabbage rolls until nicely browned on both sides. In the meantime halve the onions and slice the halves thinly. Give the onions to the pot and cook them shortly. Add the chopped cherry tomatoes in between the rolls. Lift the rolls, if necessary, to make some place for the onions and tomatoes, they should be underneath and between the rolls. 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. 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. 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.
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2 comments
So yummy with that sauce! sigh…wish my husband ate cooked veggies!
These cabbage rolls look absolutely stunning! millet is such a great grain to work with, and you gave some super great tips on preparing cabbage leaves for filling, great recipe 🙂