Savoy Cabbage Rolls with Seafood

Name: Savoy Cabbage Rolls with Seafood and Lemon Wine Sauce
Prep time: 1 h
Cook time: 1 h
Total time: 2 h
Cuisine: European
Ingredients: Onion 2 (1 for the filling, 1 for the sauce); Flour 1 heaped tbsp (15 g); Sugar 1 tsp (5 g); Butter 100 g (a third each: for the vegetables, for the cabbage rolls, for the sauce); Lemon 0.5 (zest and juice); Dry white wine 0.5 cup (100 ml); Salt, curry powder, white pepper, ginger to taste; Savoy cabbage 1 head; Seafood 400 g; Rice 0.5 cup (90 g); Basil 1 sprig; Carrot 1 head; Corn (canned) 0.5 large can or 1 small can; Water for boiling the rice 1 l; Water for the cabbage leaves, the seafood and for mixing the flour; Boiling water or fish stock to come halfway up the cabbage rolls

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2 h

When I was little, homemade cabbage rolls were a real treat, always loved and longed for. My mother and grandmother made them to their own recipe and rarely strayed from the rules. Pork, rice boiled until half done, fried onion. The filling was wrapped in steamed white cabbage leaves, and the rolls were boiled for quite a long time. Then a sweet-and-sour tomato sauce was made from the cooking liquid, and the cabbage rolls simmered a little longer in that sauce.

There was a special version: using Savoy cabbage leaves for the rolls. It is a close relative of the usual white cabbage, and it owes its name to the Italian county of Savoy, where it was bred. For some unclear reason Savoy cabbage is not popular here, even though it is much tastier than white cabbage.

Besides being an excellent vegetable for salads, soups and stews, Savoy cabbage is perfect for cabbage rolls.

Savoy cabbage comes apart into separate leaves beautifully without any hot water. It must not be boiled for long, or it turns to mush.

Once, a very long time ago, I tried vegetable cabbage rolls made with Savoy cabbage, and I was impressed. As a meat lover, I may not have quite understood the dish at first, but it turned out that the flavour of Savoy cabbage set off a meatless filling wonderfully. It was very tasty and reminded me of assorted seafood salad in cabbage leaves. You can always make cabbage rolls the “lazy” way and get tasty lazy cabbage rolls. But today I bought a head of Savoy cabbage and decided to make cabbage rolls with seafood, vegetables, rice and a piquant wine and lemon sauce, thick and delicious.

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Ingredients

4 servings

Onion 2 (1 for the filling, 1 for the sauce)
Flour 1 heaped tbsp (15 g)
Sugar 1 tsp (5 g)
Butter 100 g (a third each: for the vegetables, for the cabbage rolls, for the sauce)
Lemon 0.5 (zest and juice)
Dry white wine 0.5 cup (100 ml)
Salt, curry powder, white pepper, ginger to taste
Savoy cabbage 1 head
Seafood 400 g
Rice 0.5 cup (90 g)
Basil 1 sprig
Carrot 1 head
Corn (canned) 0.5 large can or 1 small can
Water for boiling the rice 1 l
Water for the cabbage leaves, the seafood and for mixing the flour
Boiling water or fish stock to come halfway up the cabbage rolls

Step-by-step recipe

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Cabbage leaves

Savoy cabbage rolls are easy to make.
Prepare the leaves: wash the cabbage and separate the head into individual leaves. For this amount of ingredients, 8-10 leaves are enough.
You can use the rest of the head to make a salad or a soup.
Put the outer leaves in a deep pot, cover with cold water and bring to the boil. As soon as the water boils, turn off the heat. Let the leaves stand in the water for 3-5 mins (no longer!), then drain. Cool the leaves under cold water. With a sharp knife, cut out the central ribs right up to the leaf; they are very thick and tough. It is also worth cutting off the piece of leaf that attaches it to the core.

Filling

I recommend long-grain rice, parboiled or basmati. These varieties are fairly fluffy and give no trouble. They are also easy to find.
Boil the rice until half done: bring 1 litre of water to the boil in a pot, add a couple of pinches of salt and a knife-tip of curry powder. Curry gives the rice a pleasant yellowish tint and makes it very aromatic. Don’t overcook the rice: the grains should stay slightly firm. Drain the cooked rice in a colander and let the water run off.
Boil the seafood in plenty of water for 2-3 mins from the moment it comes to the boil. A mix of mussels, shrimp, octopus, langoustines, scallops and so on is best. Then remove any remaining shells from the seafood and cut it into small pieces.
Fry the carrot with the onion: peel one onion and the carrot and cut them into small cubes. Melt a third of the butter in a frying pan and fry the carrot over medium heat.
Once the carrot browns a little, add the onion. Fry until the onion is golden and sweet to the taste.
Mix the filling: drain the liquid from the corn and finely chop the basil leaves. In a large bowl, combine the boiled rice, corn, seafood, basil, and the fried onion and carrot. Season lightly with salt and white pepper. Add ground ginger, a knife-tip of curry powder and 0.5 tsp of lemon juice.
Stir the filling and let it stand for 15-20 mins so the spices blend into it.

Cabbage rolls

Wrap the cabbage rolls: put some filling on each leaf and roll it up into a cabbage roll.
It is important to roll the cabbage rolls quite tightly so the filling doesn’t fall out.
Fry the cabbage rolls: in a large frying pan or deep sauté pan, melt another third of the butter (the last third is for the sauce).
Arrange the cabbage rolls in a single layer, seam side down, and fry for 5-6 mins on each side over medium heat.
Pour boiling water or fish stock over the cabbage rolls to come halfway up, and cook under a lid over low heat for 15 mins. No longer: Savoy cabbage will simply overcook. Besides, none of the ingredients in the filling need much cooking.

Sauce

While the cabbage rolls fry and cook, make the sauce.
Make the base of the sauce: in a separate frying pan, melt the remaining butter and fry the second onion, very finely chopped, over medium heat.
Once the onion is golden and soft, grate the zest of half a lemon over it. Stir and fry for 1-2 mins.
Add salt and pepper, 1 tsp of sugar (5 g) and curry powder, literally a pinch. Pour in the wine and 1 tsp of lemon juice (or less, it is strictly to your taste). As soon as the wine boils, reduce the heat and simmer the sauce under a lid over low heat for 10-12 mins.
Thicken the sauce with flour: once the cabbage rolls are cooked, carefully pour the cooking liquid off them into a cup; you will need it. To keep the cabbage rolls whole and undamaged, you can cover them with a plate and press down lightly.
In a teacup, mix 1 heaped tablespoon of flour (15 g) with a little cold water. Strain the mixture through a sieve. Pour it carefully in a thin stream into the boiling sauce, stirring quite vigorously. The sauce will start to thicken almost immediately. If it is too thick, thin it with the cooking liquid to the consistency you like. Let the sauce simmer for 8-10 mins.
Pour the hot sauce over the cabbage rolls and put them on the heat.
As soon as the sauce starts to boil, reduce the heat to the minimum. The cabbage rolls should simmer in barely bubbling sauce for 10 mins. But, I repeat, over the lowest heat.

Serving

Serve the cabbage rolls hot, generously spooning the sauce over them.

Calories and macros

485 kcal

Serving ≈ 390 g

Protein24 g21% of kcal
Fat22 g44% of kcal
Carbs40 g35% of kcal

100 g123 kcalProtein 6.1 gFat 5.7 gCarbs 10.3 g

Calculated from the recipe ingredients, excluding salt and spices. Data: USDA and Matvaretabellen.

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