Great Grandma B’s Cabbage Rolls

1 lb ground beef, raw
1 onion, grated
2 eggs
½ cup raw white rice
¼ teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1 large head green cabbage

Sauce:
1 large can (796ml) tomatoes
½ cup water
Juice of 2 lemons
½ cup brown sugar
Salt to taste
Put the sauce ingredients in a large pan. Bring to a boil. Drop rolls into sauce. Cover. Bake for 2 hours. Remove lid for the last 30 minutes of baking.  Now none of us do this. We just pour the cold tomato mixture over top the rolls that we have placed in the pan then bake as directed.

Grate onion into meat and mix in eggs, rice, salt and pepper. Now in her day, Great Grandma parboiled the cabbage leaves to make them soft and easy to roll. The rest of use simply freeze our cabbage ahead of time, thaw it and peel off the softened leaves. Much easier. Or alternately purchase a head of pickled cabbage which is expensive but gives you a nice sauerkraut flavour.

Auntie S’s favourite method is to use freezer cabbage and canned sauerkraut layered on top of the rolls.

In any case, add a handful of meat mixture to the end of each leaf. Roll, bringing the sides in and creating a sealed package. Place in a baking pan, 1-2 layers high. Pour sauce over top. Layer with sauerkraut and bake as above.