Cabbage Rolls with Prosciutto: This is my kind of comfort food as it’s warm, inviting, and utterly delicious. Stuffed cabbage rolls are traditional Lebanese food and are perfect for Winter. In Arabic, it’s called “Malfouf,” which means roll. Growing up, Mum would make this for us about once every two weeks.
When we were old enough, she would sit at the kitchen table and create a factory line of different tasks of cutting the cabbage, adding the meat, and then rolling the cabbage rolls. Mum’s cabbage rolls are made with simple ingredients of rice, minced beef, garlic, lemon, salt, and pepper. I added in the prosciutto for a bit of fun and flavor. The cabbage rolls melt in your mouth.
Recipe Ingredients
- One large cabbage
- ½ pound minced meat
- 1 cup rice
- Two tablespoons of melted butter
- One teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- Peeled head of garlic
- 1-2 lemons
- Eight slices of prosciutto
Serves
- 6
Prep Time
- 45 minutes
Cook Time
- 30-45 minutes
Recipe Instructions
Heat a large pot of water. Cut cabbage in half, and slowly peel off each layer of the cabbage. Blanche cabbage leaves in boiling water, adding 3- 4 leaves at a time.
Leaves are done when the cabbage turns to a deep green color (3 mins).
Continue until all cabbage leaves are blanched, and place the leaves in a colander: mix meat, rice, melted butter, salt, and pepper. Add a spoonful of mixture to the cabbage and roll like a cigarette. Squeeze the roll, so all the water is out of the registration. This will help in keeping its form. Place 2-3 slices of prosciutto in the bottom of a heavy pot. Add cabbage rolls to the pool, side by side. Then once the layer is complete, add a layer of prosciutto, and tuck in 3-4 garlic cloves per row.
Continue until all cabbage leaves are rolled; if there is any leftover mixture, freeze it for next time.
Add water to the pot, ensuring cabbage rolls are immersed. Place a small plate on top of the cabbage, which keeps the cabbage cooking evenly; place the lid.
Cook for 30 to 45 minutes on medium-low
Cabbage rolls are done when the rice is cooked through; start checking after 30 minutes.
When done, switch the stove off, add two squeezed lemons to the pot, and let sit for 5 minutes.
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