Photo: Un-Stuffed Cabbage Soup Recipe
Ingredients
Meatballs:
- 2 pounds ground meat (or your favorite blend of veal, pork and beef)
- 1 cup uncooked rice
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 medium onion, minced
Soup:
- 2 tablespoons minced garlic (about 3 cloves)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup coarsely minced onion
- 1 cup thinly sliced carrots
- 1 cup tomato paste
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup ketchup
- One 28-ounce can whole peeled tomatoes with juice
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 medium cabbage
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 cup golden raisins
- Sour cream and fresh dill, for garnish
Directions
For the meatballs: In a large bowl, combine the ground meat, rice, salt, pepper, cumin and onions. Form into 1-inch balls and set aside while you make the soup.
For the soup: In a 6-quart pot, sweat the garlic in the olive oil until white in color. Add the onions and sweat until translucent. Then add 1 1/2 cups water, the carrots, tomato paste, brown sugar, ketchup and whole tomatoes with juice. Season with salt and pepper and simmer at a lively bubble for 10 minutes. Crush the whole tomatoes with a potato masher or fork. Continue to simmer until the carrots are tender, about 10 more minutes.
Working in batches, transfer the soup to a blender and blend until smooth but not pureed. Return the soup to the pot. Remove the cabbage ribs and cut the leaves crosswise into 1/4-inch ribbons. Add the cabbage to the soup and stir to incorporate. Add the bay leaf and simmer over medium-high heat for 10 minutes more (the cabbage should be reduced in size). Add water to thin the soup to the desired consistency. Add the meatballs and simmer for 25 minutes. Add the lemon juice and raisins 10 minutes before serving.
Ladle the soup into bowls and garnish with sour cream and dill.
A viewer or guest of the show, who may not be a professional cook, provided this recipe. The Food Network Kitchens chefs have not tested this recipe and therefore, we cannot make representation as to the results.
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By c ripp
Colorado Spring...
on March 22, 2013
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What I made from this recipe was a big hit at the pot luck I took it to. I don't put raw rice in meatballs. It never seems to cook fully no matter what recipe I try. I added bread crumbs and an egg instead. I set the meatballs in the refrigerator while I made the soup. I left out the brown sugar and raisins. I used tomato sauce instead of paste and I used diced tomatoes instead of whole. That eliminated the mashing step. I used "Simpy Heinz" ketchup because it has no sugar. An immersion blender is so much easier than transferring hot soup to a blender! I highly recommend one. When it came time to add the meatballs, I sauteed them first. It gave them color and I didn't like the idea of adding raw meat to cooked soup. I deglazed the saute pan with water and added that to the soup. When it came time to serve the soup, I forgot all about the sour cream and lemon juice. Apparently, that didn't matter because the soup was a hit as is. I will definitely make this soup again with my changes.
By poofage
on March 20, 2013
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My wife saw this on Food Network and wanted to try it, so I made it last night. I didn't put the brown sugar in it and it was still way too sweet. Next time I'll skip the ketchup as well. Thinning this out with some beef stock would make this dish a lot better--I would use minimum of a quart to get this soup to the right consistency. I will also dice the carrots next time rather than slice them and saute them with the onion.
By nixtr7
Boston, MA
on March 05, 2013
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I just watched this episode today while on the treadmill at the gym and knew it was a soup I would enjoy but was a little scared I might just hate it. This soup and I just formed a long lasting relationship. I LOVED it. I used beef and pork and followed the recipe almost exactly. The changes I did make were: Approx. 2 tablespoons more of ketchup (high frutcose free, 1 extra cup of water, maybe a little less cabbage than what was called for, an extra 1/2 cup of raisins, and a 1/2 cup of lemon juice rather than a cup. I did NOT use less sugar, it was perfect! The key is to loosely pack the brown sugar. I did all the timing exactly as called for and topped it off with sour cream (which made it all that much better. Thank you girls, I will be making this a lot!
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