Braised Stuffed Cabbage Rolls - Polpette di Verza

Copyright 2011 LtDan'sKitchen blogs

I've been making cabbage rolls for some time now although I haven't made them in a while and I cannot seem to find a reason why. It was not until I saw an episode of Lidia's Italy and she made her own version of cabbage rolls that I remembered this dish. My recipe from one of my cookbooks includes cooked rice and ground pork in the stuffing while Lidia's version of Braised Stuffed Cabbage Rolls uses soaked bread and Italian sausages. It might be a good time to try her version for a simple dinner I'm preparing with friends this weekend.  

I served this dish as a starter course and it was quite tasty. I wasn't sure how it was going to taste because midway through the cooking process, I had the concern that the sauce was tasting more like sauerkraut and not stuffed cabbage rolls. It was an unfounded concern however as the final result was actually quite good. A bit different, but maybe that is not a bad thing after all. Served with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkling of chopped parsley and grated Grana Padano, it was like eating a combination of soup and wrapped meatballs.