I call this cheese-less version of Soul Rolls Jewel Rolls because… well, just look at those tidy little packets with all the pretty colors peeking out from just beneath the wrapper.
Rich is cutting out most dairy from his diet, and I had already planned to make a batch of Soul Rolls to a gathering; so I needed to come up with an alternate that he could enjoy along with everyone else. Who know it would be more popular than the original?
It all started with the Pepper Relish…
INGREDIENTS
•Canola Oil
•1 package egg roll wrappers
•1 pound ground turkey
•1-1/2 tsp Seasoned Salt
•1-1/2 tsp Tellicherry pepper
•1 tsp minced garlic – used one large clove
•1 onion, chopped
•2 or 3 cups shredded cabbage
•Pepper Relish – go ahead and make it yourself, it’s pretty simple. If you must buy it, Howard’s is the only brand I can really recommend. Remember that the ‘hot’ will be New England hot – so nice and tangy, but not burn-your-throat-out spicy.
Heat a tablespoon or so of canola oil in a large pot over medium-high heat and add the ground turkey, onion, garlic, seasoned salt, and pepper.
Cook, stirring and breaking up the turkey, until cooked through and any cooking liquids have evaporated. Set aside to cool (you can do this bit the day before, if you like).
To assemble the rolls, arrange the cooked and cooled turkey, the shredded cabbage, and the pepper relish on the counter next to the eggroll wrappers, a small bowl of water, and a board to form the rolls on.
Arrange a wrapper at an angle on the board and add a little of the pepper relish – mebbe a tablespoon or 2 – then top with a bit of the turkey, and finally the cabbage.
Dip your fingers into the bowl of water and dot the left, right, and top corners of the wrapper.
Pull the bottom of the wrapper up and over the filling, then fold the two sides in on top of that, pressing the moistened edges to the bottom fold to help seal the roll.
Take the body of the roll and firm it up a little, then roll it up to the top edge, pressing that moistened edge again to seal. I made my first batch of these more square and stubby than tube-like so that we could easily tell which rolls had cheese and which didn’t. Feel free to form yours either way.
Add some canola oil to a hot pan – you will only need an inch or so – and, when hot, add the rolls, a few at a time, and cook for 1 or 2 minutes per side, just to lightly brown the wrappers.
Remove the browned rolls to a rack in a baking pan and continue browning the remaining rolls (you should get 20 out of one packet of wrappers).
Pop the browned rolls into a hot 400º oven for 15 minutes to cook through.
Mmmm.
I offered these at that gathering with the traditional soul roll combination of pineapple juice and barbecue sauce, as well as my new experiment ; Pineapple Mustard; and, much as the mustard turned out to be a much more popular spread than the barbecue sauce, so the Jewel Rolls were the bigger hit than the Soul Rolls.
I had some leftover turkey and a few extra wrappers in the fridge; and had just put together 3-1/2 pints of pepper relish – this time with 3 serrano peppers added for a bit of a bite – so we had another batch of these tasty, tasty rolls for dinner the other night.
Yum.