Turkey-Stuffed Cabbage with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce Served with Egg Noodles
If you haven’t had a chance to completely strip your turkey of all meat by Friday, one day after Thanksgiving, please do so. You will be amazed at how much turkey you may have left and all the uses for it throughout the weekend. I love this stuffed cabbage recipe along with a sauce that is reminiscent of a paprikash. As a Native Ohioan, I have a soft spot for all dishes of Eastern European origin. And the “goulash” noodles make it a dinner for a crowd.
Preheat oven to 375. Use the outer leaves from the Napa cabbage so that you have a large surface for your filling. Blanch them in salted boiling water for 5 minutes and let cool. Start your sauce. You will need a blender. Use two whole roasted and deveined red peppers. Good quality jar is fine. Blend at high speed with 1/2 cup of half and half, pinch of salt and 1/8 teaspoon of Smoked Spanish Paprika also known as Pimenton. It’s spicier than regular Paprika and has a unique smokey quality. While blending add 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil to emulsify. Taste for salt. Add additional half and half if too thick. Set aside. You may need to add more cream before serving on the noodles.
Use 1 lb of ground turkey or chicken meat (if using leftover cooked turkey finely chopped or processed in your food processor) beat 2 eggs and add, 1 tablespoon chopped onion, 1 tablespoon of chopped parsley, 1/8 cup of breadcrumbs, 1 tablespoon of grated Parmesan cheese, 2 tablespoons of water, 1/4 cup of cooked brown or plain jasmin rice. Salt and pepper to taste. Combine ingredients in a bowl and refrigerate for 1 hour.
Brush a large gratin dish with butter or oil. Lay one leaf of cabbage at a time filling with one large tablespoon of turkey mixture and roll with seam down. Repeat until you have used all of your cabbage leaves. Lay your rolled cabbage leaves in the gratin then cover your rolled cabbage leaves with red pepper mixture and bake in the oven for 20 minutes. You may add pignoli or pine nuts for an additional flavor.
Boil some egg noodles while your stuffed cabbage is baking and drizzle with a bit of olive oil to keep from sticking. When the stuffed cabbage is ready, place noodles in decorative bowl with stuffed cabbage on top. Spoon red pepper sauce on top and garnish with chopped parsley.
Wine: Please check our selection for Thanksgiving wines for which to be thankful and select one for this dish.
And check back for a Mexican “sopa de tortilla” recipe for your turkey bones. Start your stock today!
