March 8, 2012 Cabbage Rolls Stuffed with Turkey and Fennel

 

I often turn to the cooking magazines I subscribe to for meal time inspirations. I follow all the websites for my favorite cooking publications but I still enjoy having the magazine in hand for casual reading when I am in the car (as a passenger, of course!), at bedtime and when I am cooking in the kitchen. We are still in a post vacation semi-South Beach phase now, so I am looking for recipes that can be adapted to this style of cooking. Fine Cooking magazine’s February/March issue featured a stuffed cabbage recipe in the article, Big Buy Cooking that I made some changes to.  I used ground turkey instead of lamb, and a cup of sauteed fennel in place of the rice, which reduced the cooking time. I blanched the cabbage using separated leaves instead of the whole head and baked the cabbage in a casserole dish.  It also gave me the opportunity to use our wonderful roasted tomatoes from last year’s garden.  As a first attempt, I must say we were very pleased with the results.

Turkey and Fennel Stuffed Cabbage

Loosely adapted from Fine Cooking magazine # 115

Serves 6 or 2 with several days of lunch leftovers

• 1 large head green cabbage outer leaves discarded and cored
• 1 1/4 lb ground turkey
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 cup chopped fennel
• 1 cup crumbled feta cheese (regular or low-fat)
• 1 t dried chopped oregano
• 1 Tb fresh lemon juice
• 1 t ground cumin
• 1/2 t fennel seeds crushed in a mortar and pestle
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
• olive oil as needed
• 1 quart bag of roasted tomatoes (from our garden)
• or 1 15 oz can crushed tomatoes (about 2 cups)
• 1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth
• fennel fronds reserved from the chopped fennel

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cut the core out of the cabbage and carefully pull off the leaves, keeping them as whole and unbroken as possible. Save the smaller leaves for another use. Blanch the cabbage leaves in the pot of boiling water until pliable, 3 or  4 minutes. Run the blanched leaves under cool water and pat dry.  Cut the center vein out of the leaves, this will make them easier to roll up.
2. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large saute pan and add onion and fennel. Cook onion and fennel until softened but not browned.
3. In a large bowl, combine ground turkey, sauteed onion and fennel, egg, feta, oregano, lemon juice, cumin and crushed fennel, 2 tsp salt and 1 tsp pepper.
4. Coat the bottom of a 9×13 casserole dish with 1 T olive oil. Arrange the blanched leaves on a work surface, so that they run lengthwise away from you. Put about 1 1/2 T of the turkey mixture on the end closest to you. Fold in the sides toward the turkey, and roll away from you to enclose the meat. Place rolls in the casserole seam side down as you make them. Repeat with the remaining cabbage and filling, arranging the rolls in a single layer
5. For the roasted tomato sauce; drain liquid from the tomatoes and measure out 2 1/2 cups tomatoes. Combine tomatoes, chicken broth and about 1/2 cup fennel fronds in a saucepan. Bring to a simmer and cook for about 20 minutes. Remove fennel fronds after cooking. Once the tomatoes have cooled, puree in a medium setting food mill.
6. Pour tomato sauce over cabbage rolls. Bake in a 350 oven for 40 minutes  rotating pan halfway during cooking. Serve.