Lafayette Style Stuffed Cabbage Rolls

STEAMED LAFAYETTE STYLE STUFFED CABBAGE ROLLS WITH GROUND TURKEY & BUTTER TOMATO SAUCE

Cabbage. You either love or you hate it. When I was growing up, I HATED it so much. The smell of it at holidays, I wanted no part of it. My grandma was always boiling it around Thanksgiving and New Years and it was just the worst.

So of course now, I love it. I love all kinds. Funny how tastebuds change. I wanted to get a good Creole recipe down to call my own, and here it is!

STEAMED LAFAYETTE STYLE STUFFED CABBAGE ROLLS WITH GROUND TURKEY & BUTTER TOMATO SAUCE RECIPE

Steamed Cabbage Ingredients

• 2 large green cabbage heads

• 1 full stock pot boiling water for the 2 cabbages

• 1/2 can of tomato paste

Spicy Tomato Butter Sauce Ingredients

• small onion, diced

• 2 tablespoons butter

• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

• 1 teaspoon chopped rosemary

• 1 teaspoon Tabasco sauce

• 1 teaspoon dried oregano

• 28 oz can peeled whole tomatoes

Stuffing for Cabbage Rolls

• 1 lb ground turkey meat

• 3 slices bacon, chopped (we used smoked applewood)

• 2 celery stalks, diced

• 1 green bell pepper, diced

• 4 garlic cloves, minced

• other 1/2 remaining of tomato paste

• 3/4 cup uncooked white rice

• 1 T chopped fresh thyme

• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes, 1 T Cajun seasoning (Slap Ya Mama), 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper, 1 tsp black pepper, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp smoked paprika, 1 T Worcestershire Sauce, 1/2 tsp Tabasco Sauce

• 1 large jar of organic butter tomato sauce

• 1/2 cup chopped parsley and green onions

Lining the Dutch Oven First

• 2 sliced tomatoes for lining dutch oven

• 1 sliced yellow onion for lining the dutch oven

• 1 small can of tomato sauce

• 1 1/2 cup chicken stock

• Dusting of Slap Ya Mama Cajun seasoning, black pepper, red pepper flakes and salt

Instructions

Fill large stock pot with water. Once boiling, add the 1/2 can of tomato paste. Place cabbage in boiling water. You may need to boil 1 head at a time, depending on room. Boil cabbage heads until you can slice off the leaves near stem easily, you will need to cut about 16-18 leaves for the end result of 8-9 rolls. I use 2 leaves per roll. Boiling usually goes on for 20 minutes with intermittent checking. Set softened leaves aside and cut out the thick spine. You will no longer need the boiled water, so you can set aside or discard.

For the tomato sauce, toss the diced onion into a sauce pan with red pepper flakes and oregano on medium heat for 5 minutes. Add in whole peeled tomatoes and butter. Cook down for 20 minutes. Use blender, or immersion blender to puree. Set aside.

Next, spray oil, lining the dutch oven. Slice the onions thinly and spread rings to cover bottom. Cut tomatoes thinly the same way, and spread over the onions. Use seasoning to dust over the onions and tomatoes, then sprinkle a quick coat of olive oil over it. Pour the 1 can of tomato sauce coating the vegetables, and then pour chicken stock along the outer rim of the vegetables, along the wall of the dutch oven so that it goes under the onions and tomatoes. I recommend cooking the ground turkey or whichever meat you choose at least half way to get some browning. It absorbs more seasoning first before the mixture. Lastly, mix together all the stuffed cabbage roll ingredients in a large bowl, and set soft cooked leaves next to dutch oven and bowl for an easy transfer.

Set 2 leaves, slightly overlapping in the middle, with cut spine side outwards so you can tuck inward first with the cut side covering the mixture stuffing, and the round outer side seals the wrap nicely once stuffed. I tend to put a large scoop in the middle covering the overlap, tuck in the top and bottom slightly, and then roll in the cut side to start the roll, then take the round uncut other leaf to finish the nicely tucked roll.

Place each roll (should be 8-9 rolls) “open end” down in dutch oven. Pour the butter tomato sauce over entire surface of rolls. Set on medium to medium low heat (depends on your stove), covered for 1 1/2 hours. I like to top with more parsley. When serving, the bottom bits are cooked down so much that it adds a rich browned texture to the marinara to pour over your rolls. Enjoy!