Ukrainian Beet Green "Cabbage" Rolls

Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 70 min
Servings: 6
Yield: 6 servings

Description

This Ukrainian beet greens "cabbage" rolls recipe is a traditional dish similar to cabbage rolls, but you don't have to cook the beet greens first.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon butter
1 large onion, chopped
1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs
1/4 cup milk
6 ounces ground beef
6 ounces ground pork
1 egg
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
34 large whole beet green leaves, stems removed
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup heavy cream
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill

Directions

1 Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease a 9x13-inch baking dish.
2 Melt butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion; cook and stir until softened, about 5 minutes. Cool off heat.
3 Meanwhile, place bread crumbs in a large bowl; pour milk over bread crumbs and set aside until all liquid has been absorbed, about 5 minutes. Stir in cooked onion, ground beef, ground pork, egg, salt, and black pepper until filling is well combined.
4 Cover bottom of the prepared baking dish with 2 large beet leaves; set aside 2 leaves for the top. Place remaining beet leaves on a flat work surface; add a heaping teaspoon filling to wide end (bottom) of each leaf. Roll leaf around filling, working one at a time; place into the baking dish. Repeat with remaining leaves and filling. Pour chicken broth over rolls; place 2 reserved leaves over top.
5 Bake in the preheated oven until beet leaves are tender and filling is cooked through, about 1 hour. An instant-read thermometer inserted into centers should read at least 160 degrees F (72 degrees C).
6 Drain liquid from baking dish into a small saucepan. Whisk cream and flour together in a small bowl until smooth; gradually stir into cooking liquid in saucepan. Bring to a bare simmer over medium-low heat; gently cook, but do not boil, until thickened, about 5 minutes.
7 Transfer rolls to a serving dish; pour sauce over top. Sprinkle rolls with dill.