Middle Eastern-Style Stuffed Cabbage with homemade tomato paste

👨‍🍳 Method

For the homemade tomato paste ✓ Homemade · or skip – back to store-bought

1. 1
   Wash the tomatoes, remove the cores and quarter each tomato.

   KnifeCutting board
2. 2
   Put the tomatoes, the salt and half of the olive oil in a wide pot, cover and cook over medium heat about 20 minutes, until the tomatoes soften and release their liquid.

   StoveWide, shallow pot
3. 3
   Pass the tomatoes and their liquid through a food mill or sieve and return the purée to the pot: the skins and seeds stay behind.

   Food millorFine sieve
4. 4
   Cook uncovered about an hour at a lively simmer, stirring now and then, until the purée reduces by half.

   StoveWooden spoon

   💡The paste burns easily as it dries: stir and scrape the bottom and edges, and once it is thick, don't walk away.
5. 5
   Preheat the oven to 110°C (230°F).

   Oven

   💡Put things in the oven only once it's reached temperature, after the heating light has gone off: an oven that hasn't reached temperature changes baking times, and the bake burns outside or stays underbaked.
6. 6
   Grease a wide baking dish with the rest of the olive oil and pour in the purée in a thin layer. Dry in the oven about 3 hours, stirring and scraping the edges every 30 minutes, until the paste is thick, sticky and brick red.

   OvenBaking sheetSilicone spatula
7. 7
   Let the paste cool.

   Jar

For the Meatball mix

1. 8
   Mix the ground meat with the onion, cumin, paprika, turmeric, cinnamon, rice, salt and black pepper until evenly combined.

To assemble

1. 9
   Dip the cabbage leaves in a pot of boiling water 2–3 minutes, until pliable. Drain and let cool.

   StoveWide, shallow potColander
2. 10
   Remove the tough vein from each leaf.

   KnifeCutting board
3. 11
   Place a little of the mixture in the center of each leaf, fold in both sides and roll up.
4. 12
   Arrange the rolls tightly in a wide pot, seam side down.

   Wide, shallow pot
5. 13
   Mix the stock, tomatoes, tomato paste, lemon juice and oil and pour over the rolls.
6. 14
   Bring to a boil. Turn down the heat, cover and simmer 50–60 minutes, until the rice and meat are done.

   StoveLid

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