Cabbage Charlotte
Description
The recipe won't take much time. You can prepare charlotte with almost any filling—cheese and olives, spinach and eggs, smoked meat or fish. But in summer, during the season of fresh vegetables, it would be a sin not to make cabbage charlotte—light, inexpensive, simple to prepare, and very tasty! To make cabbage charlotte, we need to separate the cabbage leaves from the core by any known method and scald them with boiling water—older cabbage leaves would need boiling, but young cabbage leaves are very tender, so this isn't necessary. Cook the rice until done, but still slightly firm inside. Add a piece of butter to the rice, season with salt, and mix. Finely chop the onion and sauté in a small amount of vegetable oil. Add the ground meat and cook over medium heat, covered, for just 5 minutes. Then remove the lid and let the liquid evaporate completely. Into the slightly cooled meat mixture, beat in the eggs, add grated cheese, rice, finely chopped herbs, salt, and spices; mix well. If several cabbage leaves tore during separation, finely chop them and add to the mixture. Grease the charlotte mold (or any other heatproof dish with high sides) with oil and line it with cabbage leaves. Place a layer of filling on top. Then add more leaves, and repeat. The top layer should be cabbage. Place slices of butter on top, and if desired, sprinkle with breadcrumbs and grated cheese. Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C for about 30 minutes. If you want the charlotte not only cooked through but also nicely browned, increase the temperature to 200°C and bake for another 15 minutes. Cut the finished charlotte into portion-sized pieces like a pie and serve hot with sour cream sauce. Serve hot.