Morel Bomba Stuffed Cabbage with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

Rice

½-1 ounce dried morels

1 shallot, diced

1½ cups diced button mushrooms

⅓ cup oil (grapeseed, olive or coconut)

1 cup Arborio rice

1 cup chicken stock

Large spring of fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried thyme

1 medium to large onion, sliced thin

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Pinch of sugar and salt

Sauce

2 red peppers, seeded and halved

5 cloves garlic

2 tablespoons oil

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

½ teaspoon salt

Rolls

1 large cabbage, leaves separated from head

1 cup chicken stock

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Rehydrate morels in enough salted, warm water to cover them.

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Brush peppers with oil and sprinkle with salt and put on a shallow baking sheet with garlic. Roast garlic 30 minutes; peppers 60 minutes.

While peppers are in the oven, sauté shallot and mushrooms in a deep pan or shallow pot. Make sure the mushrooms have a nice sear on them and all liquid has been reabsorbed. Remove mushrooms and shallot from the pan.

Add oil to same hot pan that mushrooms were sautéed in. Add Arborio rice and let cook in oil for a minute or so. Add liquid from morels, chicken stock and thyme and bring to boil, stirring once. Reduce heat to barely a simmer, and add mushrooms back to the pan. Let cook uncovered until liquid is absorbed and rice is soft. Don't stir until done. This is a method for cooking Bomba Rice.

Put cabbage leaves in boiling water for 5-10 minutes or until pliable.

Caramelize the onion slices by cooking in a little oil at a low to medium heat. Sprinkle on salt, sugar and vinegar during cooking. Stir occasionally. This should take 15 minutes or so to caramelize. When rice is done, gently mix in the caramelized onion. Stuff mixture into the softened cabbage leaves by folding a spoonful into center and folding sides in first, then bottom rib side (you may want to remove rib or score rib so it bends easier), then top leaf side. Place roll, seam side down, in a casserole baking dish. Repeat until dish is full and tightly packed.

Pour chicken stock mixed with vinegar over rolls until liquid reaches just over the top. Place any leftover cabbage leaves on top of rolls.

Remove peppers from oven. Increase oven temperature to 350 degrees and bake rolls covered for 40 minutes. Peel skin off peppers and garlic. Purée roasted peppers and garlic with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Salt to taste. Pour mixture into a sauce pan and keep on low heat until rolls are done. Arrange rolls on plate and pour sauce on top.

Serves four.