What You'll Need
- One large head of green cabbage
- One pound (500 g) grassfed ground beef
- One pound (500 g) lean ground pork
- One half white onion, diced finely
- One half cups of riced / grated cauliflower
- One half teaspoon sea salt
- One teaspoon black pepper
- One half teaspoon garlic powder
- 16 oz (475 ml) crushed tomatoes
- Eight oz (235 ml) tomato sauce (not pasta sauce)
- Coconut oil
How to Make It
- Rice grate the cauliflower. I use the grating attachment on my food processor or you could grate by hand – but it’s a pain in the ass. Save 1/2 cups for this recipe and the rest for something else… it’s tasty fried up in this side dish.
- Dice the onion finely.
- In a large bowl, mix the beef, pork, salt, pepper and garlic powder.
- Put a large pot of water on the stove over high heat.
- To prepare the cabbage for rolling, you’ll lightly boil it whole and peel the leaves off a few at a time.
- Cut the core out of the cabbage and place in the pot.
- Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer.
- As the leaves soften, you can peel them off with a spoon.
- Take care not to rip them in half.
- The whole process usually takes about 15 minutes.
- Alternatively, you can throw the whole cabbage in and let it simmer for about 15 minutes – the outermost leaves will become very soft but still usable.
- In either case, peel as many of the leaves off as you can and let cool a bit.
- In a large skillet over medium-high heat put a spoonful of coconut oil or your fat of choice.
- Add the onion and grated cauliflower and and sauté for 3-5 minutes until the onion is translucent and the cauliflower is softened.
- Turn off the heat and allow to cool for 5 minutes.
- Combine the onion / cauliflower with the meat and mix by hand to incorporate all the ingredients.
- Roll the golumbki by taking a cabbage leaf – concave side up with the stem toward you – and placing a large spoonful of the meat mixture at the stem end.
- Then roll forward, fold the sides in and end with the seam down.
- Mix the crushed tomatoes and tomato sauce (not pasta sauce) in a bowl.
- Put ~1 cup in the bottom of the crockpot (or casserole dish).
- Lay the golumbki in with the seam side down.
- Cover with the remaining tomato mixture once the crock is full.
- For a crockpot, cook on low for 5 hours. If using the oven, cover the top of the dish with foil and bake for 1.5 hours at 350°F (175°C).
