Recipe: Stuffed Cabbage Leaves with Sweet-and-Sour Sauce (Holishkes, Jewish)

STUFFED CABBAGE LEAVES (HOLISHKES)

"Stuffed cabbage leaves are a traditional dish that is used to celebrate Succot. My contemporary twist - chopped apricots - provides a nice contrast to the sweet-and-sour sauce. Serve this as part of a Succot buffet or as a first course in a Yom Tov meal."


FOR THE STUFFED CABBAGE LEAVES:
3 1/2 pounds lean ground beef or lamb
1/2 cup long-grain white rice, uncooked
2 medium yellow onions, peeled and chopped finely
1/2 cup finely chopped dried apricots
5 large garlic cloves, peeled and chopped finely
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
3 tablespoons water
16 large white or savoy cabbage leaves (select thick leaves in perfect condition)

FOR THE SWEET AND SOUR SAUCE:
2 cans (14 ounces each) diced tomatoes with juice
2 medium yellow onions, chopped coarsely
1 cup dark raisins (if desired)
3 tablespoons light brown sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 cup dry red wine
Salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted, to garnish

In a large bowl, combine the beef or lamb, rice, onions, apricots, garlic, salt, and pepper. (For a smoother mixture, pulse the ingredients in a food processor.)

In a small bowl, beat together the eggs and water. Add to the meat mixture and combine. Refrigerate the mixture covered for 30 minutes.

Fill a large saucepan with water. Bring to a boil. Plunge the cabbage leaves in the boiling water. Blanch 2 minutes. Transfer the cabbage leaves to a colander and rinse immediately with cold water - this will prevent them from continuing to cook.

Transfer the cabbage leaves to a work surface. Using a sharp knife, carefully remove any hard stalks, while doing minimal damage to the leaves.

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.

Shape the chilled beef mixture into egg-sized ovals. Wrap each oval in one or two cabbage leaves, folding and overlapping the leaves so the mixture is completely enclosed in a tight parcel. Place stuffed cabbage leaves in a baking dish.

To make the sweet and sour sauce, in a medium bowl, mix together all the sauce ingredients. Pour over the stuffed cabbage leaves.

Cover the dish. Bake 2 hours.

Gently transfer the stuffed cabbage leaves to a serving dish. Spoon the sauce over the stuffed cabbage leaves. Sprinkle with pine nuts and serve.

Can be made in advance

FLEISHIK: contains meat

Makes 8-10 servings
Source: The Jewish Mama's Kitchen by Denise Phillips