Deconstructed Cabbage Roll Casserole
Do you love cabbage rolls, but don’t want to be bothered with the fuss of blanching the cabbage and making the rolls? This Deconstructed Cabbage Roll Casserole recipe is for you.
Instead of whole leaves of cabbage I use roughly shredded cabbage. The shredded cabbage is sautéed with a little olive oil until lightly caramelized. This really bumps up the flavour of the cabbage in the dish, so much nicer that just a plain old blanched leaf of cabbage!
I keep the sauce quite simple, just onion, garlic, sweet paprika, passata and medium spiced Italian sausage.
I like to use sausage instead of ground beef or pork in the sauce as the flavours are already built in. Although I’ve stuck with a medium spiced option you can definitely bump up the heat and go with something spicier or use a different type of sausage to change up the flavour palette.
Last, but not least, the rice. I used basmati rice, but any long grain rice will do. The rice is partially cooked before adding to the casserole, then it finishes cooking in the sauce while the casserole bakes.
The rice, sauce and cabbaged are layered into a baking dish, then into the oven for about 20 -30 minutes until nice and bubbly.
During baking the rice will absorb a lot of the sauce so I recommend reserving some of the sauce to serve alongside.
The cabbage and sauce can be made a day ahead. Then it is simply a matter of prepping the rice and assembling the casserole before popping in the oven to bake.
The casserole itself can be baked ahead of time, then reheated, making it a great potluck dish.
The baked casserole will keep, covered tightly, 2-3 days refrigerated, or 2-3 months frozen.
Enjoy!
If you like this dish you may also enjoy my recipe for Stuffed Radicchio Rolls, cabbage rolls with a twist!
Ingredients
- 4 sausages
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion
- 720 ml passata
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 tbsp sweet paprika
- salt and pepper to taste
- 5 cups roughly chopped or shredded cabbage
- 1 cup uncooked long grain rice
- 1 tbsp butter
- sour cream for serving (optional)
Instructions
Prepare the fillings for the layers
- In a medium sized skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil over med. high heat. Add the shredded cabbage and cook until slightly caramelized, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
- Return the pan to the heat and add the remaining tablespoon of olive oil. Remove the sausages from their casings, discard the casing and add the sausage meat to the pan along with the onion. Cook until the onion and sausage are nicely browned, using a spatula or the back of a wooden spoon to break up the sausage meat about 6-8 minutes.
- Add the garlic, and paprika and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add the passata to the pan along with 1/2 cup water. Bring to a simmer and let cook for 10 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning, adding more paprika and salt and pepper as needed. Reserve about 3/4 cup of the sauce, for serving alongside the casserole.
- While the sauce is simmering prepare the rice.Rinse the rice 3-4 times in cool water to remove excess starch.Place the rice in a pot with 2 cups water and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover and let gently simmer for 5 minutes. Drain and set aside until ready to assemble the casserole.Note: the rice will still be quite el dente, it will finish cooking in the sauce in the oven.
Assemble the casserole
- Pre Heat oven to 175°C / 350°FSpread a few tablespoons of the tomato sauce evenly across the bottom of a baking/ casserole dish. ( 28 x 18 cm / 11 x 7 inches)Add half of the rice to the dish and cover with half of the sauce mixture. Top with half of the caramelized cabbage. Layer on the remaining rice, sauce and finally top with the rest of the cabbage.Dot the top with butter and bake for 20-30 minutes until the sauce is starting to bubble.
- Serve with reserved sauce and sour cream (if using)