Some people slice the ends off the cabbage and boil the whole thing. I did that the first time (for these pictures), but have since found that removing the leaves you want to use is MUCH easier and works better.

So - remove the # of leaves you need. We did 8. Drop the cabbage leaves into boiling salted water; cover and cook for 15-20 minutes or until soft. Drain well.

Allow to cool before trying to roll up the filling.

In a saucepan on the stove, saute the 2 Tbs. olive oil, onion, garlic with the ground beef.

Combine the beef mixture with the cooked rice. I added some dashes of Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce and pepper. Divide into 8 portions.

Spoon the portions of rice/beef mixture into the center of each cabbage leaf and roll up. Roll the leaf around the filling. If you need to, you can use a toothpick to hold it closed.

Notes: We chose to eat our first batch as soon as we got to this point, but many enjoy baking them in tomato sauce. We've done that a few times too, but each time I do it differently. Here is a standard method.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place the rolled cabbage rolls into a baking dish side by side.

Pour tomato sauce and 1/2 cup of water into the baking dish. Spread around the cabbage rolls.

Bake for 30-45 minutes.