Assorted vegetables with meat, rice and cheese
12 servings
90 minutes
Vegetable assortment with meat, rice, and cheese is a cozy European dish that combines the rich flavors of stewed vegetables, aromatic minced meat, and tender melted cheese. Its roots lie in home cooking traditions where fresh vegetables, meat, and rice create a harmonious blend that fills the home with warmth and aromas. Cabbage adds a light sweetness, bell pepper brings a spicy note, and eggplant provides a velvety texture. Baked under mayonnaise and cheese, this dish acquires an appetizing golden crust. Its serving feature is that it is not mixed but served in layers like a cake or the famous herring under a fur coat. The best way to enjoy this treat is warm, revealing its multifaceted flavor with each bite.
1
Chop 1–1.2 kg of cabbage, 1 large onion, 1–2 carrots, and 2 bell peppers, salt them, and sauté in vegetable oil.
- White cabbage: 1 kg
- Onion: 3 heads
- Carrot: 1 piece
- Sweet pepper: 4 pieces
- Vegetable oil: to taste
2
Cut the eggplants into cubes and salt for 10-15 minutes, then rinse. If you prefer them soft, it's better to sauté them in a pan with a lid.
- Eggplants: 4 pieces
- Salt: to taste
3
Boil the rice until half-cooked in salted water, drain in a colander, and rinse with cold water.
- Rice: 400 g
4
Mix: minced meat, rice, onion (one large head), 1-2 cloves of garlic (you can grind the onion and garlic together with the minced meat); season with pepper (we use a mix of fragrant and black pepper), salt, add half a glass of water. It's better to use lean beef for the mince as the product tastes better when it's not hot, slightly warmer than room temperature.
- Minced meat: 1 kg
- Rice: 400 g
- Onion: 3 heads
- Garlic: 2 cloves
- Ground black pepper: to taste
- Salt: to taste
5
Grease a frying pan with a thick bottom, 35–38 cm in diameter and about 6 cm high, with vegetable oil. Place diced zucchini at the bottom, chop one large onion and 1–2 bell peppers (optional), then layer the eggplants. Finely chop 2 tomatoes (liquid tomato or tomato paste can be used instead). Add pepper.
- Vegetable oil: to taste
- Zucchini: 3 pieces
- Onion: 3 heads
- Sweet pepper: 4 pieces
- Eggplants: 4 pieces
- Tomatoes: 4 pieces
- Ground black pepper: to taste
6
Put the minced meat with rice there, then add stewed cabbage on top, and dice 2 tomatoes on top.
- Minced meat: 1 kg
- Rice: 400 g
- White cabbage: 1 kg
- Tomatoes: 4 pieces
7
Level the top so that the center is slightly higher, and spread with mayonnaise. The thickness of the dish should match the height of the pan, no more than 5 cm (only the center can be slightly higher). If there is too much (for example, packed more tightly in the same pan) — it won't cook through!
- Mayonnaise: to taste
8
Place in the oven for about 1 hour 20 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes. Ten minutes before it's done, sprinkle with grated cheese (100-150 g, preferably 'Russian' - melts well) and put back in the oven to melt the cheese.
- Grated hard cheese: 130 g
9
The dish is not mixed but placed on the plate like a cake or herring under a fur coat — if mixed, the taste noticeably diminishes! Serve not hot, but warm, slightly warmer than 'room' temperature — unless, of course, you used fatty meat.