Qeema dolmas with potato wedges

Remember the qeema venison mince I made a few weeks ago? That time I served it with roasted turmeric cauliflower and a simple yogurt dressing. It wasn't great, mainly due to seasoning and dryness issues. A fattier mince would have been much better than venison for that meal.

When I made the qeema mince, I batch cooked, which meant I was stuck with two boxes of ready cooked spiced mince in the freezer. Something had to be made from it, something that had the potential of elevating it to a higher level of tastiness. My idea was to add sauce, a flavoured sauce and to serve it in a different way.

This is how my qeema dolmas were born and let me tell you, they were nice! I would happily make them again and I don't think my family would complain if I did. Should you want to make the dolmas, you don't need qeema mince. All you need mince flavoured the way you like it and quite dry (as in not saucy), so it stays inside the cabbage leaves.

flavoured mince, already cooked

your choice of additional vegetables, shredded

large cabbage leaves, parboiled (I prefer savoy cabbage)

tinned chopped tomatoes

stock (your choice)

onion, finely chopped

garlic, finely chopped

seasoning (opted for the same as in the mince)

1. Prepare the vegetables. They need to be quite slimly cut to easier fit into the parcels later.

I opted for pepper, leek and carrot.

2. Soften the vegetables in a little oil.

3. Par boil the cabbage leaves.

4. Don't overcook the leaves. They need to retain some structure, or they won't hold together when wrapping. When they fold over, they are probably done.

5. Add the mince to the mixed vegetables and check the seasoning. Mix well and heat up.

6. Prepare the onion and garlic.

7. Soften the onion and garlic in a little oil.

Please ignore the random piece of pepper.

8. Pick your preferred seasoning to compliment the mince.

9. Season the onion mixture.

10. Add chopped tomatoes to the seasoned onion and a crumbled stock cube. Add a bit of water to help the stock cube dissolve. If you add too much, allow the sauce to cook and reduce. You don't want it too watery.

11. Cut off the thickest part of the cabbage stem.

12. Add a spoonful of mince mixture and fold.

I'm sure there are many ways of folding a cabbage parcel. I normally start with the split thick end, then the sides and I roll as I go. Should the leaf be too small, use an extra leaf and hope it will stay rolled up. I'm no expert in this field, but I have been lucky so far.

13. Use a small oven tray to prevent the parcels from unfolding.

14. Pour the reduced sauce over the rolls and bake in the oven for 15 minutes.

15. You may want to jiggle it a little to ensure the sauce reaches all around the rolls.

16. If you want to serve with potato wedges and remember this too late, cut them thin. Add to a greased oven tray and bake in the oven for 25 minutes, until done. If you make them thicker, they can take up to 45 minutes.

I like my wedges colourful and crispy.

17. Serve and enjoy!

We had leftovers of the dolmas and they survived for two days in the fridge before the last ones were devoured. If the cooked mince hadn't been frozen before, the dolmas could have been successfully frozen, but I'm a bit funny with refreezing twice cooked food. 

If you have cooked mince that you are not too happy with, this is a great transformation meal and I can't recommend it enough.