Paleo Brat Cabbage Rolls

Awhile back I made some traditional cabbage rolls, though ever since I sort of imagined my ideal cabbage roll as something more like a bratwurst-potato/cauliflower-kraut filled wrap. Yum. I finally got around to making it happen! And I have to say, they turned out delicious. I actually was really excited to eat them with some horseradish and sour cream because then the rolls tasted a little like pierogi. I have not had anything minutely resembling piergoi in a really long time, so i was a bit ecstatic. The rolls are also great with kraut loaded on top. I served these with some roasted beets (which I also ate with generous spoonfuls of horseradish and sour cream).

Brat Cabbage Rolls
1 head cauliflower
1 lb. bratwurst (mine was ground, but you can just remove the casing of links)
1 large onion, chopped
3 T fat substance (bacon fat, ghee, butter, coconut oil)
1 large head of green cabbage
Stone ground mustard
1/4 c. broth (or water)

Start by chopping your cauliflower up in big chunks and tossing it with 1/2 of your coconut oil substance. Layer it on a cake pan and put it in the oven at 375 to start roasting. You will need to flip/stir these every 10 minutes, and they should be nice and roasted and browned after about 25 minutes.

While the cauliflower roasts, fill a large pot with a couple of inches of water and set it on heat. Take your cabbage head and remove the core: I just cut a square into the cabbage at an angle so the sides all meet and I can pull out the cone shaped hunk of core. Set the cabbage (core side down) in the pot. You can also use a big steamer basket if you have one that is big enough. Cover the pot and let the cabbage steam. After about 10 minutes you should be able to remove several outer cabbage layers - set those aside to cool/drain, and return the cabbage head to the steamer to keep getting additional layers softened. Continue until you have 10-12 leaves.

While the cauliflower and cabbage are trucking along, heat the rest of the oil/fat in a large skillet or heavy pot. Saute the onions for a few minutes to soften before adding in the bratwurst. Cook for another 10 minutes until meat is browned.

When the cauliflower is finished, chop up the pieces in the pan so that they are small and consistent with the onion/brat mix. Add the cauliflower to the brat and onion, and salt and pepper to taste. A little caraway is also tasty in there. This is now the filling for the cabbage rolls.

Fill each cabbage leaf with filling (I generally err on the side of less filling, maybe 1/4 to 1/3 cup, depending on the size of the leaf) and a generous dollop of mustard. I have found it easiest to wrap the cabbage leaves this way: set your leaf rib side facing you with the leafy edge on top. Put filling in center. Use the ribbed bottom to cover the filling and sort of scoop it back in on itself. Fold the sides in, and then finish rolling so that the top part of the leaf covers everything.

Set the cabbage rolls in a large (coverable) baking dish (or cake pan that you will cover with tin foil). You can layer the rolls in several layers if you want, or just do one. Pour the broth over the top of the rolls and bake, covered, at 375 for 30 minutes.

Serve with saurkraut, horseradish, and sour cream.