Joey’s Unstuffed Cabbage Roll Casserole

 

 

 

So, I have a slight confession to make. 
With all the cooking I do, I’m not really very fond of cooking things that are too fiddly. You know, like, filling dumplings, or rolling wontons, or making small individual appetizers. All those fiddly little things just seem to take forever. And who has the patience for that? Definitely not me. There. I said it. 
 So I was recently watching an old video of Martha Stewart and her mother cooking stuffed cabbage rolls. They were blanching and pulling apart the cabbage leaves, then filling them, then rolling them up like mini burritos. I thought “Looks delicious! Too fiddly. Don’t wanna make it.” 
And then I saw a few other videos where they took all the same ingredients, and then chopped them up together into a casserole, and I thought Yes! THAT’s the one I’m gonna make!” I mean, it’s gonna get chopped up anyway, right? 
 So I started looking at recipes for inspiration. I knew I wanted to add rice, and I knew I wanted to use condensed tomato soup instead of tomato puree because in my mind it’s supposed to have tomato soup. (I have no idea why this lives in my mind, or where I’ve ever had it like that, but I’m running with it.) Everything else just sort of fell into place, and of course there has to be cheese on top because.. well… it’s a casserole for crying out loud. (What kind of casserole doesn’t have cheese?)
 So there we have it. A delicious, hearty, fill you up kind of Sunday Dinner recipe that’ll feed a crowd, without all that fiddly stuff. 
Just exactly what I had in mind! Hope you give it a try!

 

 

 

 2 tbs olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 lbs ground beef
1 tsp sweet paprika
Salt and pepper to taste
1 small head of cabbage, chopped (about 6 cups)
2 cans condensed tomato soup
1 medium fresh tomato, diced
2 tbs brown sugar
1 cup beef stock
1 cup uncooked rice
2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded

Heat oven to 350ºF.
Heat olive oil in a very large skillet. Saute onions and garlic for a few minutes, then add the ground beef. Break up the ground beef as it cooks, until the meat has browned. Season with paprika, salt, and pepper. Now add the cabbage. Toss slightly, then cover so the cabbage will wilt a bit. Meanwhile, in a mixing bowl, stir together all remaining ingredients except the cheese. Pour meat mixture and tomato mixture into a large casserole dish, gently tossing to combine. Cover with foil. Bake for about an hour. Remove from oven, remove foil, top with mozzarella cheese. Bake in oven for an additional 15 minutes or until the cheese is melted. Remove from oven. Let site for 10-15 minutes before serving. 




Tips:
This recipe makes a GIANT casserole. If you don’t have so many mouths to feed, you can easily cut this recipe in half. 
The amounts are just guidelines. If you like a lot of something, add a lot! Want it to be sweeter? Add more brown sugar. Want it to be more savory? Add more paprika. You could even add a splash of soy sauce or Worcestershire sauce for an extra savory note. 
Yes, of course, you can easily use canned tomato sauce or puree instead of the soup. I just like the nostalgia of the slightly sweeter tomato soup in a cabbage roll recipe. You can also use any other kind of cheese instead of mozzarella. You do you!
Don’t have beef broth? Use any other kind you have. You could also do water and a bouillon cube or Better Than Bouillon. If you have nothing else, water is just fine. I just prefer to use broth or stock because it’s an opportunity to add more flavor!
If you want to make this ahead, just go as far as pouring everything into the casserole dish and covering with foil. Then just keep it in the fridge until you’re ready to bake. Easy!