I must confess that I was so obsessed with this dish while pregnant (most of my pregnancy was during the winter) that I ended up having a double portion at least twice a week! I’m not sure if it’s always true that what you crave while pregnant ends up being a dish that your child loves, but my son loves these cabbage rolls probably even more than I do.

I add some beef in my stuffing for extra flavor as well as some pancetta chunks (with skin and bone) between the stuffed lachanodolmades while they cook for an extra kick – plus, my son loves to eat these pieces of pancetta, which melt in the mouth. I also make a nice and light tomato and pork bone stock, but you can use water or ready-made chicken, beef or vegetable broth instead.

Serves 6-8

For the pork stock
500 gr pork bones
2 tsp tomato paste
1 bay leaf
1 onion, coarsely chopped
1-2 whole garlic cloves
4-5 sprigs parsley
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1.8 liters water
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp black peppercorns
Salt to taste

For the cabbage rolls
 One large cabbage (3-4 kg)
400 gr minced pork
300 gr minced beef
200 gr pancetta (ideally with skin and bone) cut into chunks
140 gr Carolina rice (risotto-style short-grain white rice)
1 carrot, grated
1 large onion, finely chopped
3-4 scallions trimmed and chopped (including the green part)
120 ml olive oil plus extra for serving
1 tsp dried mint
¾ cup chopped fresh parsley (keep the stems)
¾ cup chopped fresh dill (keep the stems)
Smoked sweet paprika to taste
1 medium sized tomato, grated or pulsed in blender (skin removed)
5 tsp tomato paste
Juice from 2 lemons + 1 lemon (unwaxed) sliced with the rind

Step One

First prepare the stock if using. You may do this a couple of days in advance and keep in the fridge but before you use it in the recipe you should heat it up.

In a large stockpot heat one tbsp olive oil and sauté the onions. Add in the bones and stir. Add in the tomato paste, garlic, bay leaf, parsley, peppercorns and vinegar. Pour in the water, salt to taste and once it starts simmering, turn heat down to low. Simmer for a couple of hours at low heat and strain.

Step Two

Wash the cabbage, cut an incision into the bottom and remove the core (see above photo). This will help the leaves separate more easily. Get a large cooking pot (large enough to fit the whole cabbage) and fill it halfway with water. Add salt and bring to boil.

Add in the cabbage (stem side down), cover and boil for about 8 minutes until it softens. Drain well and flip the stem side down so that the water drains. Let stand to drain for at least 10 minutes.

Step Three

Meanwhile prepare the stuffing. Put the minced meat in a large bowl. Add in the rice, onion, scallion, carrot, chopped herbs, dried mint, 60 ml olive oil, salt and black pepper to taste (I use 3 tsp of salt and 1 tsp of pepper). Knead well and set aside. In a small bowl mix the tomato paste with 60 ml of olive oil and set aside.

Step Four

Get the cabbage and start pulling away the leaves (if too large you may cut them in half). Take a large, wide (but not too deep) cooking pot and place the parsley and dill stems on the bottom. Layer some of the torn cabbage leaves on the bottom of the pot (I love to eat these bits later). Lay open the cabbage leaves, a couple at a time, and cut out the thick vein from the bottom of each one, in a V shape (each leaf will still intact after making this cut, but you can cut particularly large leaves in two). I never throw these V-shaped bits away! I add them in the pot to cook along with the rolls and pancetta and they are delicious (like the torn leaves I add at the bottom).

Step Five

Add about 1-1 ½ tsp of meat filling at the bottom end of the leaf. Fold in each side and start rolling it up. Place it in the cooking pot seam side down.

Repeat with the rest of the cabbage leaves and place each roll side by side. Once the first layer is full squeeze half the pancetta chunks and the cabbage stems between the cabbage rolls, sprinkle with smoked sweet paprika (you may use some spicy paprika too if desired) and drizzle with half of the tomato paste and olive oil mix. Continue with the top layer by repeating the exact same thing. Again sprinkle with smoked paprika, pour in the lemon juice, arrange the sliced lemons on top and add the rest of the tomato paste mix and the grated tomato.

Step Six

Flip a heatproof plate on top (this secures them and ensures that they don’t open while cooking). Add 2 cups of stock, cover and simmer at low heat for about 1-1 ½ hour. Once you don’t see any liquid on top and around the top layer and the cabbage feels nice and soft, remove from heat. Remove the plate and lemon slices and let stand for about 15 minutes before serving. Serve with some of its broth, drizzled with a bit of extra virgin olive oil and sprinkled with fresh dill and some extra smoked paprika, if desired.

To convert metric measurements to US and British kitchen units, click here.