No-Boil Corned-Beef-Stuffed Cabbage

EASIER

GLUTEN-FREE

Makes 4 to 6 servings

Stuffed cabbage, that famed Eastern European comfort food, is glorious—but we don’t love the many pots needed to make it. Here’s how to cut down on the cleanup: First, eliminate the step of boiling the cabbage leaves. Instead, freeze the head. The thawing process will soften the leaves so they’re ready to be stuffed and baked without an extra pot of water. And second, don’t chop or sauté to build the filling. Instead, use store-bought corned beef, already flavorful enough to stand up to our easy tomato sauce. Squirrel away a cabbage in the freezer for several months so you’re never far away from this Old World favorite.

1 large head savoy cabbage

1 pound store-bought low-sodium corned beef (either packaged raw in the meat counter or a chunk of deli corned beef)

1 pound lean ground beef

½ cup rolled oats (certified gluten-free if that is a concern)

2 tablespoons minced fresh dill fronds

2 teaspoons caraway seeds

One 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon honey

1 tablespoon white wine vinegar

1. Wrap the cabbage tightly in plastic wrap and freeze for at least 24 hours or up to 4 months.

2. Unwrap the cabbage, place it in a large bowl, and thaw overnight in the refrigerator, about 12 hours.

3. Cut off the stem and core the cabbage. The leaves will now peel off easily, as if they’ve been blanched. Remove 16 leaves. Reserve the rest of the head for another use (see More!).

4. Place the corned beef in a food processor, cutting the meat into several chunks to fit. Pulse until coarsely chopped. Scrape into a large bowl.

5. Add the ground beef, oats, dill, and caraway seeds to the corned beef. Mix until uniform.

6. Place a cabbage leaf, veins down, on a clean, dry work surface. Cut out the thick middle vein, maybe as far as halfway up the leaf. Set ¼ cup of the corned beef mixture at the thicker end of the leaf, fold the sides over the meat and into the leaf, then roll it up into a neat packet. Set aside and make 15 more rolls.

7. Place the 16 rolls in one layer in a large Dutch oven or a large, high-sided sauté pan. Whisk the tomatoes, mustard, honey, and vinegar in a medium bowl until the honey dissolves. Pour over the rolls.

8. Set the pot or pan over medium heat and bring to a simmer. Cover, reduce the heat to low, and simmer slowly for 1 hour, or until the meat filling is cooked through.

Test Kitchen Notes

• There’s no added salt because corned beef is salty (as is the mustard in the sauce).

• This recipe will only work with a savoy cabbage because its leaves are more tender from the get-go. The round savoy looks a bit like a regular green cabbage, except its leaves are frilled and crinkled. Do not confuse it with napa cabbage.

• The oats add a smooth texture to the stuffing, better than little grains of rice throughout.

image Don’t throw out the rest of that cabbage. Make a Russian-inspired cabbage soup: Roughly chop the remaining cabbage (you should have 3 or 4 cups), then place it in a large soup pot with 1 pound beef sirloin, trimmed and cut into ½-inch pieces; 1 cup chopped onion; ¼ cup raisins; 1 quart chicken broth; one 28-ounce can diced tomatoes; ¼ cup red wine vinegar; 2 tablespoons granulated white sugar; 1 teaspoon table salt; and ½ teaspoon ground black pepper. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. Then cover, reduce the heat to low, and simmer slowly for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. To serve, garnish the bowls of soup with sour cream.