Vegetarian Passover Cabbage Rolls

I used rice in these, but some Jewish groups do not permit rice during Pesach. You can use an extra sheet of crumbled matzo to compensate. Peas are also probably suspect-so omit them if in doubt. I also did not use eggs to bind the filling together and left it as more of a soft stuffing. Again, you may prefer a firmer filling and an egg beaten into the mixture before filling should work fine.

I didn't work from a recipe, rather what I had in the fridge/pantry. I called these cabbage rolls for lack of a better name, but if you're looking for something traditional-this is probably not it.

I had much more filling than cabbage leaves to fill, so I baked it in a casserole dish and let the top crisp a bit. It reheated well.

You Will Need:

About 12 large cabbage leaves, cooked until soft in boiling water, drained and cooled(you can overlap smaller ones if you run short)
1 cup cooked white rice
2 sheets roughly crumbled egg matzos
1 cup tomato sauce (3 tablespoons reserved)
1 cup vegetable broth
1 teaspoon thyme
1 tablespoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon dried garlic
Pepper to taste
1/2 cup raisins
1 cup cooked peas
3 large carrots, grated
1/2 pound mushrooms, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
3 celery stalks, chopped and leaves if you have them
About 5 tablespoons olive oil (you may need more)

Prepare cabbage leaves and set aside to cool. Mix together spices and dried garlic in a bowl and set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large frying pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat and cook the carrots, celery, mushrooms, pepper, raisins, and peas until everything is soft. If it begins to stick, add more oil. When mixture is soft, stir in the spices, rice, and crumbled matzo and cook until well coated. You'll need to keep stirring to keep it from burning. After a couple minutes, add the reserved tomato sauce. Remove from heat and cool slightly before filling cabbage leaves.

Don't over stuff your cabbage leaves. Fill them, wrap them and arrange them in a deep baking dish. Combine the tomato sauce and broth and pour enough over until it reaches halfway up the sides of the rolls. Place any extra filling in a baking dish, and use some of the liquid to moisten it as well. Reserve any extra liquid in the fridge as you may need it later.

Bake the filling until nicely browned on top (about 20 minutes). Bake the cabbage rolls until most of the liquid has evaporated, basting every once in a while to prevent the tops getting dried out. If the cook (or burn) too quickly, add some of the reserved liquid. Cook until firm. Remove from oven and let stand a few minutes before serving.