Delicious Cabbage Rolls - Vegan

Hello everyone, today I'm sharing with you a delicious vegan cabbage rolls recipe that is also rice-free. The filling for these cabbage rolls is prepared in a slightly unconventional way, but trust me, it makes the rolls incredibly tasty. First, let me introduce the ingredients.

Ingredients for Cabbage Rolls:

2 heads of cabbage

For the filling:

1 onion
1 carrot
4 mushrooms
Salt
Red chili powder (optional)
Sweet paprika
6 cloves of garlic
400 grams of chickpeas
Vegetable oil (I recommend olive oil)
1 tomato
Greens (parsley or cilantro)

For the sauce:

4 handfuls of almonds
3 cloves of garlic
Salt
1 tablespoon of olive oil
4 tablespoons of lemon juice
1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar

Instructions

First separate the cabbage leaves and trim the thick veins. Pour water into a pot, bring it to a boil, then immerse the cabbage leaves into the boiling water and let them simmer for about 5 minutes.

Let's start making the filling. Slice 1 onion into half-moons and sauté in vegetable oil until softened. Add 1 large grated carrot, 4 large chopped mushrooms, stir, and sauté until the carrots and mushrooms are softened. Add salt and red chili powder, and a tablespoon of sweet paprika, then mix everything. Add 4 crushed garlic cloves, stir.

Remove the pan from the heat, transfer the sautéed vegetables and mushrooms into a blender, blend and set aside.

Next, we'll need soaked chickpeas. Soak 400 grams of chickpeas overnight. Then drain them and put half into the blender, add salt, red chili powder, and a tablespoon of sweet paprika, 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil, and 300 milliliters of water, blend until smooth. Add the blended chickpeas to a bowl, prepare a second chickpea mixture using the same ingredients.

Heat a large pan, pour the chickpea mixture into the pan, stir with a wooden spatula, allow excess liquid to evaporate. Cook until the mixture thickens, then remove from the heat, let the filling cool.

Put a large tomato into a blender bowl, add 5 cups of water, 2 garlic cloves, a tablespoon of sweet paprika, optional red chili powder, salt, and a tablespoon of olive oil, blend until smooth.

Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil to the cooled chickpea mixture, stir, add the sautéed vegetables and mushrooms, stir. Add chopped greens, stir.

Line the bottom of a pot with cabbage leaves, then prepare the rolls. Place the rolls in the middle of the pot, place a plate on top, pour tomato sauce using a tablespoon. Put the pot on the stove, place a weight on the plate. Once the sauce starts to boil, reduce the heat and cook for an hour, then turn off the heat and let the rolls rest for an hour.

For the sauce: Pour boiling water over 4 handfuls of almonds and let them soak for 30 minutes. Peel them, wash thoroughly and put them into a blender. Add 3 cloves of garlic, salt, a tablespoon of olive oil, and 300 milliliters of water, blend until smooth. Heat a pan, transfer the almond mixture to the pan without adding water, cook for about 10 minutes until it thickens, stirring with a wooden spatula. Let it cool, add 4 tablespoons of lemon juice and 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar to the cooled mixture, stir. If the sauce is too thick, you can add a little water.

Place the rolls on a plate and pour the sauce in the middle of a bowl. If you have leftover filling, you can make meatballs in the oven, then cool them so they retain their shape. And that's it! Enjoy!