2 medium heads of white cabbage
butter
(sunflower oil)
about 300 g ground beef
75 ml short grain rice
(2 medium carrots)
salt
pepper
about 4 - 6 tbsp dark molasses

Remove any withered outer leaves from the cabbages. Cut the cabbages in smaller pieces and remove the core. Finely chop the cabbage into short, thin strips. This is most easily done using a food processor's slicing/shredding attachment fitted with a julienne disk, a mandoline, or another slicing device.

Slowly sauté the chopped cabbage in some butter (and oil), until most of the moisture has evaporated and the cabbage is soft and wilted. Stir often and add some more butter and/or oil, if needed.

Cook the rice until just tender, strain and set aside. In a little butter, brown the ground meat until all the moisture has evaporated. If you are using carrots (they give extra flavour to the dish), peel and tail them and boil in salted water until al dente. Thinly slice the carrots or cut them in small pieces.

Mix all the ingredients and season with salt, pepper and dark molasses to taste. Use enough molasses to make the dish taste sweetish, but note that the cabbage will further sweeten during baking in oven.

Pour the mixture in a deep oven casserole dish, dot the surface with knobs of butter and bake, uncovered, in 150 °C for about 1 - 3 hours, or until the cabbage is browned, soft and succulent.

Stir the casserole every now and then to prevent it from burning on the bottom. Cover the pan with a lid if the dish seems to dry out or brown too much.

Serve the casserole in the traditional Finnish way, accompanied with lingonberry jam or sugared lingonberries.

Recipe source: family recipe.