Venison Stuffed Cabbage Rolls
Venison Stuffed Cabbage Rolls are surprisingly simple to prepare and are full of healthy ingredients. Cabbage has more Vitamin C than oranges and has one of the highest concentrations of Vitamin K of all vegetables. Vitamin C boosts your immune system and keeps free radicals under wraps. Vitamin K is known to slow down the symptoms of Alzheimers disease by limiting neuronal damage to the brain.
This dish is not only beautiful, but can be made ahead of time, therefore being a great dish to serve for entertaining. Scott requested Venison Cabbage Rolls for his birthday and I served mashed potatoes, salad, crusty bread and a dessert of my grandmother’s Perfect Pound Cake. It was an unforgettable meal.
Venison Stuffed Cabbage Rolls
Ingredients
- 12 leaves cabbage
- Olive oil for sautéing and drizzling
Filling:
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, smashed
- 1 1/2 pound ground venison
- 1 Tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 cup cooked rice
- 2 eggs
- 2 Tablespoons Kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon basil
- 1/4 teaspoon oregano
- 1/2 cup milk
Sauce:
- 1 1/2 quarts crushed tomatoes
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 Tablespoons sugar
- 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
- 3 Tablespoons flour mixed with 1/4 cup water
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- For the sauce, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a saucepan. Sauté garlic for about 1 minute. Add tomatoes, sugar,lemon juice and flour mixture to the pan and mix well. Heat until the mixture thickens and turn off the heat.
- For the filling, place a skillet over medium heat and coat with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the onions and garlic and sauté for about 5 minutes or until the onions are translucent. Add the tomato paste and mix well.
- In a large bowl, place ground venison, tomato mixture, rice, eggs, salt, pepper, basil, oregano and milk. Mix well.
- Choose the largest cabbage leaves from your cabbage head. In a large stockpot bring water to a boil. Drop cabbage leaves into the water and cook for about 3-5 minutes or until pliable. Remove leaves from the pot and drain well. Place a about 1/4 cup of sauce on the bottom of a baking dish. Place about 1/2 cup venison mixture into the center of the cabbage roll and roll the cabbage leaf from what was the stem over the mixture and enclose the mixture. Place the cabbage roll seam side down in the baking dish repeating with the other cabbage leaves. Place the cabbage rolls side by side in the dish. Drizzle 2 to 3 tablespoons of olive oil over the rolls.
- Pour the sauce over the cabbage rolls. Place the cabbage rolls in the oven for about 1 hour or until meat is cooked through.
This was awesome but I’d recommend more sauce; it was a little dry. First time making and eating the. – they are tasty and wholesome!
Last sentence of the first step 5 – Drizzle 2-3 tablespoons of WHAT over the rolls?
I added “olive oil” to the instructions, Steve. I hope they turn out fantastic for you!!
I have to try “gołąbki” (cabbage rolls in Polish) with your sauce, I usually make cream and tomato sauce, with salt and pepper – and your sauce must be delicious 🙂
Do you brown the meat before filling the cabbage leaves ?
Great question. No, it will cook through in the oven. It’s a pretty simple dish to make. Hope you enjoy it!