Cabbage Rolls

CABBAGE ROLLS

Printed from COOKS.COM

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2 lbs ground beef
1 lb ground pork
3 medium onions, chopped
4 cups cooked white rice
1 cup bacon bits
3 tablespoon butter
3 medium heads cabbage, frozen and thawed
salt and pepper to taste
onion, garlic, basil to taste
3 x 28 oz cans tomato sauce

This is a great recipe for those who do not want to boil the cabbage and brown the meats.Place cabbage heads in a chest freezer for 2 or 3 days prior to day of making the rolls. The night before making the rolls, remove cabbage from freezer and allow to defrost overnight. Remove core from cabbage heads and discard. Line aluminum baking pan with a thin layer of tomato sauce, topped with first few cabbage leaves.
In skillet, melt butter, add onions and bacon bits. Sauté until tender.
Meanwhile, prepare rice as per box directions.
In a very large mixing bowl, combine beef and pork, onions, bacon bits and cooked rice. Add salt and pepper and all spices. Mix together very well.
Peel cabbage from head (the cabbage leaves will virtually fall off), spoon meat mixture onto cabbage leaf. Roll leaf, folding ends in and place in baking dish seam side down. Continue until baking dish is full. DO NOT STACK ROLLS.
Add a coating of butter to the top of each roll. Pour tomato sauce over top. Cover with foil and bake in a preheated 350°F oven for 90 minutes.
Let stand for 10 minutes and serve.
http://www.cooks.com/rec/doc/0,1626,134182-250195,00.html

My Notes:

I don't care much for onions so I used less and added garlic.
I used 2 boxes of Rice A Roni Spanish Rice mix plus a little instant rice instead (this was a TON of filling)
I made the leftover filling into "riceballs" that I baked and froze for a later meal.
We love cabbage and although we liked the recipe I will use spaghetti sauce next time instead of tomato sauce. Also,to the filling, I will add a diced green pepper and more fresh cooked bacon bits instead of premade bacon bits in a jar.
Picked because it was a good "Make Ahead Meal' to freeze for later. The recipe makes about 2, 9x13 pans (two meals).