pat's Recipe

Pork-Stuffed Cabbage Rolls

Category: Pork

1 small head green cabbage (2 pounds), cored
12 ounces lean ground pork
1 slice white sandwich bread, crumbled
1 medium carrot, shredded
3 scallions, trimmed and thinly sliced
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons apricot preserves
1/2 cup reduced-sodium canned chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon dried sage
Coarse salt and ground pepper

Directions
In a pot of boiling water, cook cabbage until outer leaves are bright green and pliable, 6 to 8 minutes. Remove from pot. Pull off 8 leaves. Trim thick core from each leaf.
In a bowl, mix pork, bread, carrot, 2 scallions, tomato paste, preserves, 1/4cup broth, sage, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Place 1 cabbage leaf in a small bowl. Fill halfway with pork mixture; fold leaf over filling. Repeat with remaining leaves. Place rolls, seam sides down, in a single layer on a heatproof plate.
In a 12-inch skillet fitted with a round rack, bring 1 inch of water to a simmer over medium heat. Place plate with rolls on rack. Pour remaining 1/4 cup broth over rolls; sprinkle with remaining scallion. Cover; steam until firm, 12 to 15 minutes (add more water as needed). Serve with steaming juices and scallions.

Serves 4.
If you don't have a round wire rack (to use in step three), roll up aluminum foil, and shape it into a ring. Place the ring in the pan, and nest the plate on top.

Note: Forming the rolls: Trim core from each softened cabbage leaf; place leaf in a bowl, then fill, fold over, and invert, seam side down.