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Kittencal's Cabbage Roll Casserole

Created by KittenCal on January 6, 2012

1/2 pound sliced bacon (chopped into about 1/2-inch dice or a little larger)
1 1/2 pounds extra-lean ground beef (if you like more beef use 2 pounds)
Dried chili flakes (optional, or to taste, I add them in)
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
6 garlic cloves (or 1 tablespoon garlic powder)
1 1/2 teaspoons seasoned salt
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper (or to taste)
1/2 cup dry rice (par-boiled rice, use a heaping 1/2 cup)
8 cups cabbage, chopped (chopped into 1 to 1 1/2-inch dice, 1 small head)
FOR THE TOMATO SAUCE
2 1/2 cups tomato sauce (Hunt's brand, do not substitute crushed tomatos, use only tomato sauce and Hunt's is the best)

1 can (10 ounce) condensed tomato soup (undiluted)
1/4 cup water
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons brown sugar (or to taste)
1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano (rubbed)
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder (to taste)
1 teaspoon seasoned salt
Ground pepper, to taste
Hot sauce or cayenne pepper (optional, or to taste - I like it really spicy so I use lots of hot sauce)

Step 1: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (position oven rack to lowest position).
Step 2: Grease a 13x9-inch baking dish.
Step 3: Sprinkle the diced cabbage over the bottom of the baking pan; set aside.
Step 4: In a skillet, cook the bacon until crisp; remove to a bowl (leave the bacon grease in the skillet).
Step 5: To the same skillet, add in ground beef, cook until the pink goes away. Add in the onion and garlic, seasoned salt, pepper and cooked bacon; continue cooking until meat is quite browned. Mix in the dry rice.
Step 6: Spoon the beef/rice mixture evenly over top of cabbage.
Step 7: TO MAKE TOMATO SAUCE: In a large bowl, whisk together the tomato soup and tomato sauce, water lemon juice and brown sugar until well combined. Mix in all remaining ingredients. Taste for seasonings, add in more if you like.
Step 8: Pour tomato sauce mixture evenly over the top (the pan will seem full but will shrink down in size after cooking).
Step 9: Cover tightly with a double layer of foil (to avoid any leakage make sure the foil it tight around the edges or if your worried place pan onto a baking sheet).
Step 10: Bake 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours without stirring or until cabbage is tender (mine took about 1 1/4 hours, check about 1 hour into cooking time) if you want less sauce, after 1 hour of cooking time remove the foil and continue baking until the cabbage is tender) Enjoy!