Sometimes it is not easy to please me. For example a stuffed cabbage recipe I tested for Christmas failed  completely due to its consistency. The filling made of pumpkin, chestnuts and porcino tasted good but was way to mushy.

And when I thought about it, I realized that one of my favourite stuffed cabbage from Ann-Kathrin Webers “Deftig Vegetarisch” offers a somehow firmer consistency due to the great mixture of cooked spelt, feta cheese and thyme. It is  delicious but a bit too rustic for Christmas. But when I was searching for my perfect burger patty I struggled with the same problem until I invented my all time favourite ABC-Burger-Patties.

And so I build a cabbage filling based on this burger patty recipe: It contains buckwheat flour and chickpeas for the right firmness, while flavour and colour stems from red beet, chestnuts and champignons. To balance the sweet and earthy flavours of chestnut and red beet I added some capers to add a fresh and sour counter point. The colours of red filling and green wrapping is appealing, too. And to round everything I made the “perfect Veggie-Jus”, Eva posted some time ago. The Jus adds all Umami flavour possible and I can just advice you to make it for yourself, too!

All together it is a Christmas worthy dish which gives me the feeling of eating something festive, as it is beautiful as well as delicious!

Stuffed Cabbage with Chestnuts and Beetroot

yields 8 stuffed Cabbages

• 70g chickpeas
• 150g chestnuts (roasted, peeled and chopped)
• 200g Champignons
• 50g red beetroot, grated rawly
• 150g red beetroot, cooked and grated
• 30g capers (alternativly homemade wild garlic capers)
• 50g whole buckwheat flour
• (Wild garlic-)Salt
• Pimenton de la vera
• 250ml vegetable broth
• 8 savoy cabbage leaves

Soak the chick peas in cold water for at least 4 hours.

Cube the  Mushrooms (1 cm length) and roast them in a pan until tender. Let them cool, drain the chickpeas and run them through a mincing machine. Add the grated beetroot, chopped chestnuts, flour and spieces and kneat until well combined.

Let the mixture sit for 1 hour (or over night in the fridge).

Now blanch the cabbage leaves. Pat them dry and will them with 1/8th of the filling. Wrap them tightly and secure them with cooking twine.

Place in a casserole, add the vegetable broth and cook in the oven at 180°C for 25-30 min until the cabbage turns slightly brown.

Veggie-Jus

• 1 big onion
• 1 big carrot
• 2 stems of cellery
• 1 garlic clove
• 300 g red wine
• 100 g Port
• 100 g Sherry
• 1 Tbs. tomato concentrate
• 2 Tbs. Vanilla-Balsamico-Essence
• 1 Tsp. Teriyaki
• 1 Tsp. braunes Miso
• 1 Tbs. Parmesan, finely grated
• some pieces of cold Butter

Chop the vegetables and roast them in a pan. Add the liquids and fill everything in a casserole.

Place in the oven at 190°C and cook for 90 min.

Drain the liquid through a sieve and reduce its volume to 75ml by simmering it on the stove. Add the remaining ingredients and now stir slowly some pieces of cold butter into the sauce to add richness.