Golubtsy

Cut the core out of the cabbage, working the knife around it in a cone and lifting the whole plug out.

Lower the head core-side down into a large pan of boiling water and leave it for 3-4 minutes.

Peel the outer leaves away with tongs as they loosen, returning the head to the water each time the next layer stops giving. You want 12-14 whole leaves.

Lay each leaf flat and shave the thick rib down level with a knife held almost parallel to the board. A raised rib will not bend, and the leaf cracks along it as you roll.

Boil the rice in salted water for 6-7 minutes, until the grains have swollen but still have a hard white centre, then drain and cool.

Melt the butter in a frying pan and cook the onion over medium-low heat for 8 minutes, until soft and translucent.

Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute more, until it smells sweet rather than raw.

Mix both minces with the half-cooked rice, the onion and garlic, the dill, the fine salt and the ground peppercorns.

Fry a teaspoon of the mixture in the same pan and taste it, then correct the salt in the bowl. It is the only chance you get before the rolls are sealed.

Put a heaped tablespoon of filling at the stem end of a leaf.

Fold the two sides in over the filling, then roll the leaf up away from you into a tight parcel.

Do not pack them full. The rice still has swelling to do, and an overstuffed roll bursts along its seam in the oven.

Heat the oven to 160C/325F.

Line the base of a heavy lidded casserole with any torn or leftover leaves, which stop the rolls below from scorching against the metal.

Pack the rolls in seam-side down in a single tight layer, or two layers if the pan is small.

Whisk the tomato sauce with half the smetana and the hot stock and pour it over, so the rolls are three quarters submerged.

Tuck in the bay leaves.

Bring the pan to a simmer on the hob, then cover it and transfer it to the oven.

Braise for 80-90 minutes.

Check by pushing a skewer down through the middle of a roll: it should pass through the cabbage with no resistance, and the rice should be fully swollen and soft.

Rest the pan, still covered, for 10 minutes off the heat so the rolls firm up and lift out whole.

Serve two or three per person with the sauce spooned over and the remaining smetana on top.