ETLİ KARA LAHANA SARMASI

STUFFED COLLARD GREENS WITH GROUND BEEF

As I mentioned in the previous post, I tried stuffed collard greens for the first time. I really liked it so did my family.
This dish is very popular in the north part of Turkey so it is very traditional too.


Ingredients:

• Large leaves of 3 bunch collard greens ( 29 leaves)
• 1/2 lb of ground beef
• 1 cup of rice
• 2 tbsp of extra fine bulgur
  
• 2 tbsp of tomato paste
• 1 tbsp of red pepper paste
• 1 medium size of onion
• 1 fresh green pepper
• 6 cloves of garlic 
•  juice of 2 lemon
• 1 tsp of black pepper
• salt

Wash the leaves several times to remove grit. Remove the center stalks from the leaves. Cut the large leaves into three triangular parts. Cut the smaller leaves into two equal parts.
Fill a large pot halfway with water. Turn the heat on high, bring it to the boil.  Place the first half of leaves' pieces in the pot, wait for 1 minutes and take them out. Repeat this step for the second half of it. Place all of them on a large plate and set a side.
Meanwhile, take onion, green pepper, and garlic into the bowl of food processor and process it until finely chopped. Take them in a large mixing bowl. Add the other ingredients ( rice, bulgur, beef, tomato paste, red pepper paste, lemon juice, black pepper, and salt) into the mixing bowl and mix it until well combined.
 

Take one piece of leaves. Place one tbsp of filling on the larger side of it and fold the sides inside and roll it. Repeat this step for all off the pieces.
Place all the rolls horizontally, side-by-side in a large pot. Add boiling water into the pot slowly, just to cover the rolls. Take the pot over medium heat and bring it to the boil. Turn the heat down to low as soon as it starts to bubble. Cover the lid and simmer for one hour or until the rolls are tender. Serve it warm with salad, plain yogurt or cacik.