Beetroot Top Cabbage Rolls

Updated at: Mon, 22 Jul 2024 13:30:57 GMT

Step 1

Wash 2 cups of uncooked basmati rice thoroughly. Add 2 and 2/3 cups of water and season water with salt, pepper, and butter. Bring to a boil, stirring to ensure butter is melted and seasoning is dispersed. Once boiled, reduce heat to low on smallest element and cover - cook for 20 minutes. Turn heat off and leave covered for additional 5-10 minutes. Rice should be slightly dry due to lower water ratio (roughly 1 : 1.3) versus bagged instruction of 1:2.

Step 2

Leave rice to cool so it can be handled by hand. Wash dill in cold water and dry. Pinch off leaves and discard stems and stocks. Cut into 1cm strips and set aside.

Step 3

In a pan, fry onions, butter, and salt and pepper (to taste) until just turning golden brown. Remove from heat and stir in dill - leave to cool. Once both onions and rice are cool, mix together with your hands to avoid breaking too much of the rice. Adjust salt to taste.

Step 4

Wash beet root tops in cold water. Cut large leafs in half and remove spines. The perfect rolling size of a leaf is only 3”-4” long - easily fits on your palm - so cut the longer half-leafs in half again. The leave pictured to the left is about the largest you’d wand to have them cut. Blanch beet root tops until they are soft but do not break - we aim for “supple, but not mushy”. Once all the tops are blanched and chilled, move them to a plate with a paper towel beneath to absorb the water (they don’t need to be dry but shouldn’t be soaking wet when you are rolling).

Step 5

To begin rolling, lay out your rolling station from either left to right (as per photo) or right to left - either way, you’re going to want to roll over top of the rice as a lot of rice falls out. Lay a leaf in the palm of your non-dominant hand and spoon rice on to full leaf. You can fold into: a) “Cone” shapes by folding the bottom corner closest to you over to the other side forming a cone (see photo - example is rolling in your left hand), then continue to roll away from you until full leaf is rolled. Or - b) Straight burrito rolls (without the edges tucked in). Start folding from the edge closest to you in a straight line to the end. Place each roll into a casserole dish. Do not fill the dish all the way to the top with rolls as you want room for the cream when baking. If you do not plan to bake the whole thing the day of, place remaining rolls into Tupperware and freeze until ready to bake.

Step 6

STOP HERE IF YOU'RE FREEZING - this is a great freezer prep, and lasts for several months. Simply defrost and pour cream and bake to complete. Handy if you can't usually find beetroot tops.

Step 7

SPINACH ALTERNATIVE: A quicker and just as delicious alternative uses spinach instead of beetroot tops. Skip steps 4 (blanching) and 5 (rolling), and instead alternate layering rice and spreading a layer of uncooked baby spinach in a caserole dish. Finish with a layer of rice to avoid spinach burning.

Step 8

Preheat oven to 350°F / 175°C / 160°C fan

Step 9

Pour whipping cream or double cream evenly over rolls - they do not need to be submerged completely but you want enough so the cream is visible between rolls on the top. Bake for 30-40 minutes depending on how big your dish is. The cream should be absorbed and all the rice hot. Serve immediately and enjoy!

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