Hungarian Lazy Stuffed Cabbage and Noodles

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While cabbage didn’t play a huge role in my childhood cuisine, there were two dishes that did show up to everyone’s delight — noodles with sautéed onions and cabbage, and stuffed cabbage.  I make the noodle dish several times a year, but I’ve never tackled the stuffed cabbage.

When I bought a lovely head of cabbage at Whole Foods this week, along with some wide noodles, I suddenly flashed to the stuffed cabbage and thought there must be a way to capture the flavor without the fuss, and why not combine the two dishes?  The following is the delightfully delicious results!

Hungarian Lazy Stuffed Cabbage and Noodles

Serves 6

8 oz. package wide noodles, prepared as directed on the package.

1 lb.  ground beef

I large onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, chopped

½ cup brown basmati rice (can use regular white rice if you prefer)

1 small head of cabbage, chopped

1 28 oz. can tomato puree

1 16 oz. can diced tomatoes

¼ cup plus 2 TBS vinegar (can use white or cider)

¼ cup brown sugar

¼ cup white sugar (or Succinat)

1 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 325°F

Sauté onions, garlic and ground beef in oil until beef is browned.  Add rice.

In a bowl, mix together tomato puree, diced tomatoes, vinegar, salt and sugar.

In a large, deep casserole layer 1/3 of the cabbage, followed by ½ the beef mixture.  Pour half the sauce over it.

Layer another 1/3 of the cabbage, the rest of the beef mixture, and then the remaining 1/3 of cabbage.  Pour remaining sauce over.

Bake for 90 minutes.  Remove from oven and stir in cooked noodles.

Lower heat to 300°F and bake for an additional 30 minutes.

Note: I prefer the sweetness of the sugar because that’s what I was raised on.  You can omit the white sugar if you prefer a less sweet version.

Related articles

• For Succos: Unstuffed Cabbage (kosherhomecooking.com)
• Stuffed cabbage rolls (gicrockpot.wordpress.com)
• Cabbage Noodles for the Nine Days (kosherhomecooking.com)