This is my mother Helen DiMascio Richwine’s recipe. She used to make this dish all the time for my dad and uncles. It is Polish, Jewish, Hungarian, Czech, Serbian or Croation depending on who makes it. Her Polish friends called  Golabki (little pidgeons), Czechs or Slovaks called it (Holubky) and Serbs or Croations (Sarma). Never mind that my mom is Italian; her neighbors were’nt and she said she learned to make this from one of them. This is also stick to your ribs peasant food. Stretch the meat with rice, add cabbage, fill the pot with tomatoes if you have then, feed the family! Hearty and delicious. Since we are Italian descent our Holubly have basil, oregano and fennel in the sauce. Customize your sauce to your own nationality or tastes.

These yummy cabbage rolls take 3 steps and it’s easy, like making lasagna is easy once you break it down.

Step 1 – boil the cabbage

Step 2 – Make the sauce

Step 3 – Mix the meat and rice

Ingrediants

1 medium head of cabbage

1 lb of ground beef

1 cup of cooked white rice

salt, pepper, garlic powder, oregano, basil, fennel seed

1 can of crushed tomatoes

1 onion diced

2 cloves of garlic

Fill a large pot of water and set to boil. Once boiling add the cabbage and let it boil on low for a about 10 minutes.

Chop the onion and garlic, saute in 1 tablespoon of olive oil, add fennel seed, oregano and thyme. When the onion is soft add the 2 cans of tomatoe puree. Let it simmer as you check the cabbage and put the meat and rice together.

If the cabbage is tender and the leaves can be peeled off then drain in a colander.

White that drains, mix your ground beef and rice, season with 1 teaspoon of salt, 1/2 teaspoon of pepper and 1 teaspoon of garlic p0wder.

When the leaves are cool enough, stuff each leave with a tablespoon of beef and rice and roll the leaves up. You will have about 8-10 cabbage rolls.

Line a Dutch oven with cabbage leaves and sauce on the bottom and put the cabbage roll in and add sauce again at the top. Simmer on low for about an hour or refrigerate and cook the next day.