Silesian cabbage stew with minced meatballs

Ingredients for 10 servings:

• 1 white cabbage
• 1,000 g minced meat (pork, beef or mixed)
• 200 g rice
• 800 g tomatoes (from a can, pureed or chopped)
• 400 g tomato paste (preferably with seasoning vegetables)
• 75 g parsley (fresh or frozen, not dried!)
• 2 onions
• 5 tsp, heaped vegetable broth, instant
• some oil
• n. B. Salt
• n. B. Pfeffer
• e.g. Paprika powder (sweet)
• n. B. Paprika powder, (hot as a rose)
• lots of water
• n. B. Maggi

Instructions

Working time approx. 1 hour; Cooking/baking time approx. 20 minutes; Total time approx. 1 hour 20 minutes

Bring 500ml of water to a boil in a saucepan, stir in 1 teaspoon of vegetable stock and pour in the rice, then simmer on low heat until the rice has absorbed all the water. I recommend loose rice without a bag. Then remove from the heat and let it cool. Meanwhile, chop the cabbage or slice it into strips. I always use one large head of cabbage; if you only have small ones, you should use two. Pour the chopped cabbage into a very large saucepan and add water until it is completely submerged, then let it cook. Place the minced meat and rice in a bowl, season with salt, pepper, and paprika, and pour over a little oil so that the spices dissolve in the oil and are better distributed (otherwise you would end up with lumps of red pepper in the minced meat, for example). Now add the chopped onion and 50g of parsley and mix everything well. Let it rest for a while; this will make the minced meat firmer and prevent it from crumbling in the pan. While the cabbage is cooking, add 4 teaspoons of vegetable stock to the pot. Mix well. Then add the tomatoes, tomato paste, and 25g of parsley, and mix well again. Simmer over medium heat. Season with Maggi seasoning to taste. Form the minced meat into meatballs and let them rest for a few minutes. Then carefully add them to the simmering stew—it’s best to lower them into the pot with a spoon to prevent them from splashing. Let them simmer for about another 20 minutes to ensure the meatballs are thoroughly cooked. Serve with bread or baguette. You can also refrigerate the stew for a few days and reheat it—if you form the meatballs tightly, they will retain their shape without any problems.