How long does it take to make Stuffed Leaves?

Meatless stuffed cabbage: a filling of rice with chopped tomatoes, onion, parsley, spices and olive oil, or rice with onion and mint; cook the whole cabbage in water 15–20 minutes, until the leaves come apart and soften.

47 minTotal

3 minActive time

44 minSetting

Step by Step

#	What to do	How long
1	Mix the ground meat with the onion, parsley, cumin, paprika, rice, salt and black pepper	1 min
2	Put the whole cabbage into a pot of boiling water and peel off the leaves one by one as they soften. Let cool	3 min
3	Remove the tough vein from each leaf	—
4	Place a little of the mixture in the center of each leaf, fold in both sides and roll up	1 min
5	Arrange the rolls tightly in a wide pot, seam side down	1 min
6	Pour the stock over the rolls	1 min
7	Bring to a boil. Turn down the heat, cover and simmer 40 minutes	40 min

How to Tell It's Done

until evenly combined
until the rice and meat are done

Common Mistakes

A gentle simmer, not a boil: a hard boil dries the food out and clouds it, a slow simmer cooks it evenly.

More Ways

Peppers are stuffed whole: only the top is cut off. For cabbage, remove the thick vein from each leaf and roll like grape leaves. The tomato sauce usually also has lemon, sugar and salt.
Put the whole cabbage into a pot of boiling water and peel off the outer leaves as they soften; pack the rolls tightly, seam side down.
Grape leaves aren't blanched: rinse, fill and roll, line the bottom of the pot with a few leaves, pack the rolls tightly, pour in boiling water with lemon juice and oil, set a plate on top and cook covered over low heat about 40 minutes.
Jarred grape leaves: line the bottom of the pot with the small leaves, roll about two tablespoons of filling in each large leaf, pack tightly, cover with water just to the level of the leaves and cook covered over very low heat about an hour and a half.
Stuffed onions: blanch the scored onions in boiling water until they soften, cool, separate into layers, fill each layer and close it, pack tightly in a shallow pot and cook covered in sauce over low heat about half an hour.

The full recipe: Stuffed Leaves →