Normally children in Finland hate eating cabbage.
Well, I think children everywhere hate eating cabbage.
But the cabbage casserole changes everything.
The cabbage is there but it is mixed with rice and hamburger meat, and made in oven and it just doesn't taste exactly like cabbage anymore.
It is not a very hard dish to do, and since it is the only way my son will eat cabbage, I thought I would share this Finnish secret with everyone.
First of all you need a good pot or a casserole, I would even say a cauldron.
I personally use an iron pot and it is the best thing ever.
If you do not have an iron pot then you need a good casserole with thick sides and bottom, so that the cabbage will stew in the oven.
Depending on how big your pot or casserole (and family) is, you'll need a small, medium or big cabbage.
Since we are just four here, I use a medium size, or smallish, cabbage (about four pounds).
While the rice is cooking (about two pounds with this amount of cabbage), fry the hamburger meat until it's ready (not too ready because it goes to the oven afterwards) and add some salt and pepper.
No other condiments are necessary for the traditional casserole but you can go experimenting if you want to.
Then cut the cabbage in thin strips and cook it quickly, just a little bit to get it a bit softer.
The rice needs to be al dente, not completely cooked.
Mix the cabbage with the hamburger meat and rice in the pot.
Put the pot in the oven for an hour.
This is the easy part because you can do anything else you want to meanwhile you wait till the casserole is ready.
Take the casserole out and enjoy!
