As a Christmas change, rather than talk about glass, I thought I might share my recent discovery in the kitchen. My husband and I love Mexican flavours, so I decided to find a way to use them with my leftovers. This recipie is very flexible, just use the ingredients you happen to have.  If your stuffing is heavily seasoned with sage, that can interfer with the mexican flavours; use less if that’s the case.

Enchilada stuffed cabbage rolls.

Sauce

• 1 onion – chopped
• 2 cloves garlic – chopped
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon chilli powder
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon oregano
• 2 cups (~5oog) tomato passata
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon cider vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Filling

• 8-12 leaves of savoy cabbage
• 1-2 cups stuffing, mashed potatoes, or rice  (a combination also works if you only have a little bit of each)
• 1-2 cups chopped turkey
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup chopped olives
• 1 cup kidney beans – optional
• 1/4 cup sliced jalapeno – optional
• 1/2 cup grated cheese – optional

Saute the onion in the oil until translucent. Heat the garlic and spice with the onion until aromatic, (~30 seconds) then add remaining  sauce ingredients.  Bring to a boil and simmer while preparing the filling.

Remove eight to twelve leaves from the head of cabbage.  Place in boiling water until the steams are tender, approximately ten minutes.

Mix remaining filling items with 1/4 cup of the sauce, then place a thin layer of sauce in the base of a 9×13 baking tray.

When leaves are tender, spoon 1/4 cup of filling into the centre of each, then roll leaf around filling and put in the tray on top of the sauce.

When all the rolls have been filled, pour the sauce over them and top with shredded cheese, if using.

Cover the tray with foil. Bake at 180 C (~350F) for thirty minutes.  Remove the foil and bake for another five to ten minutes to brown the cheese and thicken the sauce.

This is very nice with cornbread muffins or tortilla chips.