Cabbage Casserole with Beef Mince and Fresh Herbs
"This cabbage casserole with ground/minced beef and fresh herbs is a shortcut to the traditional stuffed cabbage rolls. Easy and quicker to prepare, yet super delicious. Stuffed cabbage rolls is one of those dishes that has grown hugely over the years in my family, starting with my children and my husband not being such fans of it initially to nowadays asking for it if I don’t make it in a while. Lucky for them, I do make them almost, almost whenever we fancy them. Cabbage is not always everybody’s cup of tea but trust you me, this dish will be loved even by those that are on the fence with madame cabbage. It is a dish packed with goodness, vitamins and minerals, loads of fiber and it’s delicious too. Winner!"
NotesI only use oil if the meat is really lean, but if the beef has a fat content of anything more than 5% then I don’t use any oil at all.
I have mentioned a decent amount of cayenne pepper which is half a teaspoon but you can go for more or a lot less depending on your palette, heat tolerance and threshold.
Serves6
Preparation Time15 min
Cooking Time50 min
Ingredients
- 1 medium cabbage fresh or sour -roughly chopped
- 400 g mince beef *
- 200 g lardons or smoked bacon
- 2 onions, 1 carrot, 1 celery stick,2 tbsp olive oil, 2-3 cloves garlic finely chopped,1 tbsp tomato paste dissolved into 150ml lukewarm water,120 g rice well rinsed/washed,1 tin chopped tomato,2 bay leaves,1 1/2 tbsp salt,
- 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper,1/2 lemon squeezed,3-4 tbsp creme fraîche,10 springs fresh parsley,2 tbsp fresh thyme,1/2 tsp cayenne pepper *
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Preheat the oven at 180°C or 375F. Prepare a 28x28cm ovenproof ceramic dish.
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If using fresh cabbage start by chopping the cabbage roughly and blanch it in boiling water for about 5 to 10 minutes with 1 tbsp of salt for extra taste. (please see recipe notes for more tips) * I like i t crunchier so I only blanch it for 5 min.
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In a deep pan placed over a medium heat add the bacon or lardons, chopped onions, carrot, celery, pepper and the bay leaves. Cook for about 2-3 min. And the ground/mince beef and cook for a further 2 minutes stirring occasionally until the beef is no longer pink. Add the rice and cook for a further 5 minutes. Add some water as needed, approximately 250ml/2 cups).
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Add the garlic tomato paste, chopped tomatoes, 1/2 of the fresh or dry thyme, season well and cook for a further 4-5 minutes. Mix in the blanched cabbage, cayenne pepper, parsley and remaining thyme, mix well and transfer it into the oven dish. Try and fish out the bay leaves now. They would have given their bit of flavour by now.
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Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes at 190°C /400F. When you’re ready take out and enjoy with a drizzle of lemon juice over for some crème fraîche. Enjoy!