This meal is so delicious, we recreated a dish we had a few years ago in Italy for the Terra Madre Slow Food conference. We usually use Collard Greens nowadays and they are fantastic, too!
1 head of Cabbage, larger leaves removed
(or Collards with the stem cut out)
1 bunch Green Onions washed, trimmed, chopped
1 large Sweet Potato peeled and finely diced
2 ribs Celery washed trimmed and finely chopped
2 cups prepared rice
1 pound cooked ground Beef, Lamb or Pork
(omit or use Mushrooms for veg version)
Wash, trim and blanch Cabbage/Collard leaves in boiling salted water. Remove with tongs and plunge in cold water just to cool. Stack on work surface and prepare filling.
Filling: Saute Sweet Potato with Celery and Green Onions in 2T olive oil, season with salt and pepper. Combine with rice and ground meat.
Spread filling along Cabbage leaves, roll up and place in buttered/oiled baking dish. Continue until dish is full, you can squeeze them in.
Bechamel Sauce: Make a roux in a saucepan with 4T butter and 4T flour. Add 1-1/2 cups milk, salt and pepper, nutmeg to season. Stir and cook until thickened, pour over prepared Cabbage Rolls.
Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes or until browned and bubbly.
