Since it’s 80 degrees outside this might not be the best time to sell you on stuffed cabbage but if I don’t do it now it might slip into oblivion, never to be heard from again!

I made this tasty meal one recent afternoon so it would be ready when I arrived home from class. The only thing left to do was assemble the big salad we enjoyed with it.

I made a few changes to the eatliverun version of turkey stuffed cabbage; it’s really delicious, very healthful and pretty easy to make. The original recipe calls for a jar of marinara sauce but  I always make my own. I’ve used both savoy and regular cabbage — I’ll take the savoy hands down because although it may appear rugged, it’s actually very tender and sweet. Best of all, it cooks quickly and easily!

So without further ado, here’s my Stuffed Cabbage recipe:

For The Sauce

1 28 oz. can Muir Glen crushed tomatoes

1 tablespoon dried basil (or several fresh leaves if you have them)

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon sugar to cut the acidity

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

To Make The Sauce

Add all ingredients to a saucepan large enough to hold about six cabbage rolls and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and cover.

For the Cabbage Rolls

1 medium head Savoy cabbage

1 pound ground turkey or chicken

1 large carrot, grated

1 large shallot, minced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/4 cup currants or raisins

2/3 cup cooked wild rice

2 tablespoon tomato paste

1 1/2  teaspoon salt

Pinch of cinnamon

Ground black pepper

To Make The Cabbage Rolls

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Remove any outer leaves from your cabbage and stick a large fork or prong right at the bottom, in the core. Once the water is boiling, place the cabbage in the water. Continue boiling for 5 minutes then remove cabbage and run under cold water immediately.

Place cabbage on a bed of paper towels and carefully remove the leaves, snipping the bottoms with kitchen scissors. They should come off very easily and in one piece after the blanching process. Lay all the cabbage leaves on paper towels and cover with more paper towels to soak up any water. Let drain while you work on the filling.

To prepare the filling, heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. When hot, add the shallot, garlic and grated carrot. Saute for about 4 minutes, then add the tomato paste and mix well. Continue sauteing for another minute.

Remove pot from the heat and transfer veggies into a large mixing bowl.

Add the cooked rice and currants to the veggie mixture followed by the ground turkey. Add the salt, pepper and a pinch of cinnamon and mix well.

Once you have everything combined, start filling your cabbage rolls. Place about 1/3 cup of meat mixture in the center of each cabbage leaf. Roll up like a burrito, folding in all sides so no meat escapes. Place filled rolls gently in your pot of tomato sauce. Repeat until all the cabbage leaves have been filled and rolled. Make sure all the rolls are covered with the sauce.

Bring heat to low then cover and simmer for at least 45 minutes.

I hear these freeze well but I haven’t done so yet…we eat ours up pretty quickly!