Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Mock Pigs In The Blanket

Last night I made Pigs in the Blanket. What's that you ask? Well, traditionally it is a spiced pork meat rolled into cabbage blankets and cooked with a tomato base. It is very delicious served with mashed potatoes. However, I decided to use ground turkey meat instead of pork in mine. Now, I am really not a fan of ground turkey meat. I don't know what it is but it just kind of turns me off in some dishes. I think it is just a mental thing with me. Anyway, I am on a mission to use up all my meats in my two freezers before I purchase anymore. So, I have started with the freezer that is in the kitchen (part of refrigerator). Each day I pull out something in the freezer and see what I can come up with for a recipe. So, yesterday it was ground turkey and I decided on Pigs in the Blanket. They actually turned out pretty good (at least DH loved them) but not sure if I will use turkey meat in them again or not. Just would rather have that ground pork.

Here's the recipe:
1 lb pkg ground turkey or pork
1 cabbage
1 small can tomato paste
1 12 oz can tomato sauce
3/4 cup bread crumbs or rice
3/4 cup mozzarella cheese
1 egg
2 garlic cloves
2 tsp Italian seasoning
1 tbsp sugar
salt to taste
pepper to taste

Boil several cabbage leaves for 15 minutes. Drain, rinse with cool water and set aside. Combine meat, tomato paste, rice or bread crumbs, garlic (minced), egg, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper and 1/2 cup of the cheese. Mix well. Roll in desired ball shapes and place inside cabbage leaves. I remove the membrame in the middle of the cabbage leaf to make 2 rolls. Lay in baking pan and combine sugar and tomato sauce. Pour over cabbage rolls and bake at 400 degrees for 45 minutes. Add remaining cheese on top of rolls and continue baking until brown. Serve.