Pork and cabbage parcels

We spent this afternoon running round Homebase like a bunch of loons, looking for wallpaper samples. Sixteen rolls of paper later, we've found one we all quite like for the loo. You liked pretty much all the ones we tested up against the wall, especially if they were pink.

Tea was adapted from a Hugh Fearnley Whernley recipe. His leaned towards Eastern Europe, with dill and sour cream, whereas this one is a bit more Greek in its origins.

You'll need:

tomato sauce
a largish onion, finely chopped
two tins of chopped tomatoes
a clove of garlic, chopped
salt/pepper/thyme

Fry the onion and garlic in a little olive oil until they soften and turn translucent. Add the tomatoes and herbs, bring to the boil, and leave to simmer for 20 minutes or so.

parcels
12 large cabbage leaves (we used white cabbage, but savoy would also be nice)
500g pork mince
an onion, finely chopped
half a mug of rice
an egg, beaten
a few mushrooms, chopped
oregano, salt and pepper

Add a mug of cold water to the rice, and cook until soft (there shouldn't be any water to drain away). Stick in a large bowl.

Brown the pork mince, then add the onion, and fry until it's softened. Add this mixture to the rice.

To the rest of the pork/onion juices in the pan, add the mushrooms, and fry for a couple of minutes (you might need to add a little extra olive oil here). Chuck in your bowl with the rice/pork etc. Add the beaten egg, season well with the herbs/pepper, and squidge together.

Take your 12 large cabbage leaves, and blanch for 3 minutes in some boiling water. I had to do this in two batches, as I only had a small pan on the go. Shake most of the water off, and then stick a very large tablespoonful of the pork/rice mixture in the middle of each leaf, and fold up. Place fold side down in a large baking dish. Repeat ad nauseam until all leaves are parcelled.

Pour the tomato sauce over the top, and then stick in the oven at 180 degrees C for 30-40 minutes. We ate ours with grated cheese on the top...