To make cabbage rolls you need to soften the leaves first. The traditional way is blanching but easier methods are freezing and microwaving. Barbara Rolek is a former chef who became a cooking school instructor and award-winning food writer. The traditional technique for stuffed bacon rolls cabbage leaves is blanching the whole head of cabbage, but there are two easier and safer ways to do it, including freezing and microwaving.

One of the most tedious aspects of making cabbage rolls is blanching the cabbage head in a pot of boiling salted water. Next, you need to stab the core of the cabbage with a large serving fork so you can safely move it in and out of the pot, which you will do several times. It takes a minute or two for the outer leaves to soften, but the inner leaves will take longer. You need to repeat this until all layers of leaves have softened and you reach the core. If the whole idea of removing and replacing a large head of cabbage into and out of hot, boiling water doesn’t appeal to you, there is a much easier method.