Cream of the Crop Recipe Week 14: Stuffed Cabbage and Heirloom Tomatoes

 

by Miriam Meir

From my Aleppan grandmother-in-law: malfuf meḥshi and banadura meḥshi. 

Ingredients

For the filling
½ cup short or medium grain white rice (I use paella rice)
1 lb ground beef
1 onion, diced
¼ cup olive oil
½ tbsp ground allspice
½ tbsp kosher salt
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
1 cup pine nuts

For the stuffed cabbage
1 green cabbage
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp tamarind paste or pomegranate concentrate
¼ cup lemon juice
1 tbsp kosher salt

For the stuffed tomatoes
6 heirloom tomatoes
2 tbsp olive oil
¼ cup lemon juice
6 tsp tamarind paste or pomegranate concentrate

Step 1. 
Soak rice in cold water for half an hour. Drain rice and mix with all the other filling ingredients. 

Step 2.
Cut off the cabbage stem and separate the leaves. Place the leaves in a pot with water to cover, and boil for 15 minutes. Drain and rinse in cold water.

Step 3.
Rest one cabbage leaf in your hand and put 1 tbsp filling in the middle of the bottom half of the leaf. Fold in the sides of the leaf over the filling and roll tightly. 

Step 4.
Put 1 tbsp olive oil in a large saucepan and place the cabbage rolls in the pan seam side down. Cover and cook over medium for 15 minutes.

Step 5.
You have 15 minutes to make the tomatoes now. Preheat the oven to 350°. Remove the tops of the tomatoes and scoop out the pulp (don't throw them out, see tips for ideas what to do with them). Fill each tomato with filling (not too tight).

Step 6.
Oil a roaster with 1 tbsp olive oil and place tomatoes inside to fit tightly. Salt, then drizzle the lemon juice and 1 tbsp olive oil over the tomatoes. Scoop 1 tsp tamarind paste/pomegranate concentrate on each tomato. Cover the roasting pan and roast the tomatoes for 45 minutes. Remove the cover in the last 10 minutes.

Step 7.
Back to the cabbage: Mix 1 cup water, the tomato paste, tamarind paste, lemon juice and salt, and pour over the cabbage rolls. Cover tightly and simmer for 30-40 minutes. 

Tip 1: I doubled the filling recipe and used the leftover filling the next day in more tomatoes, poblano peppers, and summer squash: 

Tip 2: Use the tops of the tomatoes for a side salad: chop them up, add chopped lettuce and persian cucumber, lemon juice, olive oil, kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper.

Tip 3: I used the scooped out tomato pulp to make tomato soup. Next time I’ll add it to the cabbage saucepan!

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