Lahanodolmades – Stuffed Cabbage

Stuffed cabbage rolls or Lahanodolmathes (lah-hah-noh-dol-MAH-thes) is a traditional Greek dish that is customarily made with Avgolemono (Egg-lemon) sauce.

Ingredients:

1 cabbage (cored)
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 onion (chopped)
4 cloves garlic (chopped)
1 pound lean ground beef (or lamb)
1/2 cup Arborio rice
1/4 cup tomato puree
1/2 cup feta (crumbled)
1 lemon (zest)
1 bunch of green onions (sliced)
1/4 cup dill (chopped)
1/4 cup mint (chopped)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
* chicken stock
2 eggs
1 lemon (juice)

Directions:

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil with some salt.
2. Carefully place the head of cabbage into the water and boil for 10-15 minutes. The leaves should be a little see through and they should come off easily without ripping.
3. Drain the water and carefully peel the leaves off one by one removing the thick part of the rib of each leaf.
4. Heat the oil in a pan.
5. Add the onion and saute until tender, about 5-7 minutes.
6. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant, about 1 minute and remove from heat.
7. Mix the onions, garlic, ground beef, rice, tomato puree, feta, lemon zest, green onions, dill, mint salt and pepper in a large bowl.
8. Place a cabbage leaf on a flat surface with the vein side up.
9. Place a tablespoon of filling in the middle of the leaf and fold the sides over the filling and roll the leaf up. Repeat until all of the filling is used up.
10. Place stuffed leaves into a baking dish in layers and just cover with chicken stock.
11. Bake in a 375F oven for about 1 hour.
12. Whisk the eggs in bowl over a small pan of simmering water until frothy, about 3 minutes.
13. Slowly pour in the lemon juice while whisking.
14. Add some of the liquid from the baking dish and continue whisking until it thickens.
15. Mix most of the avgolemono sauce into the dish with the wraps reserving some for garnish.
16. Serve garnished with the reserved avgolemono sauce and some chopped dill and or mint.