Prepare the cabbage in advance: using a sharp knife, carefully core the cabbage and discard. Place the cabbage in a large freezer bag and freeze overnight. The morning you want to make cabbage rolls, take the cabbage out of the freezer and let thaw at room temperature. This will wilt the cabbage leaves without having to boil the head of cabbage.
To make the filling: heat a medium skillet over medium heat.
When the skillet is hot, add the diced bacon and sauté until it is just starting to brown then add the onion and sauté until the onion and bacon are golden, about 15 minutes.
Add the ground beef and sauté until cooked through, about 10 minutes.
Add the garlic and sauté for a minute or so and then remove the skillet from heat.
In a large bowl, add your cooked rice, meat mixture, eggs and sea salt and pepper to taste. Mix together until fully incorporated. Set aside in the fridge to cool, at least 1 hour or overnight.
To make the sauce: in a large bowl combine the tomatoes, onion powder, garlic powder and sea salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
Remove the leaves from the thawed head of cabbage. The large leaves will have a thick stem that isn’t very pleasant to eat. Remove the stem with a knife. You will need 12 large leaves or 24 small leaves.
Preheat the oven to 350F.
Make the cabbage rolls: start by covering the bottom of a 9x13” baking dish with half of the sauce. Set aside the other half of the sauce for topping the cabbage rolls.
Lay one large cabbage leaf or 2 small overlapping cabbage leaves on the counter. Scoop about 1/4 cup of the filling onto the leaf and roll the leaf up over the filling. It doesn’t have to be perfect. Place the roll in the baking dish. Repeat with remaining leaves until your filling is used up. You should have about 12 cabbage rolls.
Spoon the rest of the sauce on top of the cabbage rolls.
Cover the baking dish with foil and bake for 1 hour, then remove foil and bake a further 30 minutes.
Serve alongside all your other Ukrainian favourites.