This gloriously flavoursome minced mutton recipe is one I love to cook. The spiced mince is wrapped in cabbage leaves and simmered gently in a swamp of sweet, soft onions and stock — rich, comforting, and properly delicious.
It’s the kind of dish I feel may have drifted out of fashion in the UK. While the French still cook chou farcie and the Poles serve gołąbki with pride, we spent a few years forgetting about stuffed cabbage altogether. But a scroll through Instagram or a look at some of London’s best restaurant menus suggests it’s making a triumphant return — and rightly so.
These stuffed cabbage parcels are deeply satisfying. The kind of thing I want to eat on a chilly evening with a glass of red and something buttery and rooty on the side.
— George Ryle
Serves 5-6
Ingredients
Filling
For the Onion Gravy
For the Crushed Swede
Method
To Stuff the Cabbage Leaves
- Start by preparing the stuffing. In a pan over low heat, melt the duck fat and add the diced shallots and thyme leaves. Season with a little salt and cook gently until the shallots are soft and translucent — avoid any colour.
- Pour in the whiskey and let it simmer for around 2 minutes, allowing the alcohol to cook off. Remove from the heat and leave to cool slightly.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the minced mutton with the cooled shallot mixture, rolled oats, ground cloves, a light grating of nutmeg, and a few cracks of black pepper. Season with salt, then use your hands to mix everything thoroughly.
- To check the seasoning, fry off a small piece of the mixture in a pan and taste. Adjust the salt and pepper if needed before proceeding.
In the Meantime, Begin the Gravy
- Add the duck fat, sliced onions, bay leaves, and a pinch of salt to a large pan. Cook over a medium heat with the lid on, stirring regularly, for around 25 minutes — the onions should be soft and sweet, but still pale in colour.
- While the onions are cooking, warm the chicken stock in a separate pan.
- Once the onions are ready, stir in the flour and cook for a couple of minutes, stirring continuously to avoid catching.
- Add a ladleful of the hot stock to the onions and stir — the mixture should begin to thicken quite quickly. Gradually add the remaining stock, continuing to stir, and bring everything to a gentle simmer.
- Cook for 20 minutes, then check and adjust the seasoning to taste.
Returning to the Cabbage
- Carefully peel away the outer leaves of the cabbage — you’ll need about 10 intact and undamaged ones. Take care not to tear them, as whole leaves are much easier to stuff and roll.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil, and prepare a bowl of iced water.
- Blanch the cabbage leaves in batches for 2 minutes, then immediately transfer them to the iced water. This stops the cooking process and helps retain their structure and colour — essential for neat, well-shaped parcels.
- Once all the leaves have been blanched, drain thoroughly.
- Lay a leaf flat on a clean work surface. If the stalk at the base of the leaf is especially thick or fibrous, trim it with a sharp knife, cutting as close as possible without slicing through the leaf.
- Gently roll over the leaf with a rolling pin to flatten and soften it. Take a golf ball-sized amount of the mutton mixture, shape it into a small cylinder, and place it near the base of the leaf. Roll upwards, tucking in the sides as you go, to create a neat parcel. Secure the roll with a toothpick.
- Repeat the process until all the mince is used.
- Preheat the oven to 170°C.
- Pour the prepared onion gravy into an ovenproof dish. Nestle the stuffed cabbage parcels into the gravy, leaving a little space between each one. Transfer the dish to the oven and cook for 18–20 minutes, until piping hot and lightly golden on top.
To Cook the Swede and Serve
- Add the diced swede, butter, chicken stock, a generous pinch of salt, and several twists of black pepper to a saucepan set over medium heat.
- Bring to a gentle simmer, then cover with a lid and cook for around 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. If the pan looks dry at any point, top up with a splash more stock or water to keep things moving.
- After 30 minutes, the swede should be tender. Using the back of a fork, a potato masher, the end of a rolling pin — whatever’s to hand — gently crush the swede until broken down but still rustic in texture.
- Taste and adjust seasoning as needed — swede responds particularly well to black pepper.
- To serve, spoon a generous amount of crushed swede onto each plate. Place a couple of the stuffed cabbage parcels on top and ladle over plenty of the sweet onion gravy. Don’t forget to remove the toothpicks before serving.
