Stuffed cabbage leaves (dolmades)
This seems like a laboured and involved recipe but you can cut a few corners by using the sausage meat and a good passata. Get everyone involved in the stuffing and rolling and you'll have it in the pan in no time. It can then just tick along in the oven. The darker outer leaves are best for this recipe. For a veggie version you can stuff the leaves with cooked rice, chopped nuts, dried fruit and herbs and spices of your choosing.
Ingredients
- 8 whole savoy leaves
- 1 onion, peeled and sliced
- 2 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 small glass of white wine
- 400ml of passata
- 150ml of stock
- 4 herby sausages, skinned
- 8 cocktail sticks
Method
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Step 1
Blanch the cabbage leaves for 2 mins in a pan of boiling water, keep to one side. Fry the onions in a shallow casserole pan for 10 minutes until softened, add the garlic for the final 2 minutes. Tip in the wine and reduce by half. Add the passata and stock bring to a gentle simmer, season with salt and pepper. Preheat your oven to 180°C/Gas 4. Divide each skinned sausage in half and roll it into a ball. Sit each ball in a leaf and wrap it up into a tight parcel, fastening it shut with a cocktail stick. Repeat and sit them seam-side down in the tomato sauce. Pop on the lid and bake for 40 minutes until everything is tender.
