Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan. Add the diced onions, reserving ¼ cup for the filling. Cook over medium-low heat until the onions are translucent. Add the canned tomatoes, vinegar, wine, brown sugar, raisins, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer covered for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Set the sauce aside.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Remove the core of the cabbage with a paring knife. Immerse the head of cabbage in the boiling water, peeling off each leaf with tongs as soon as it s flexible. Set the leaves aside on paper towels. I used eight large leaves of cabbage. Remove the head of cabbage from the water and refrigerate for another use.

To make the filling combine the ground chuck, eggs, onion, breadcrumbs, rice, thyme, oregano, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl. Add ½ cup of the sauce to the meat mixture and mix lightly with a fork.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

To assemble the stuffed leaves, place ½ cup of the sauce in the bottom of a large Dutch oven. Thin down the hard triangular rib from the base of each cabbage leaf with a small paring knife. Place ⅓ cup of filling near the rib edge of each leaf. Tuck the sides in fold the cabbage over the filling. Place half the cabbage rolls, seam sides down, over the sauce in the bottom of the dish. Continue assembling until all the cabbage rolls are in the pot. I ended up with eight. Pour the remaining sauce over the cabbage rolls. Cover the dish tightly with the lid and bake for 1 hour until the meat is cooked. Baste with the sauce from the bottom of the pot and serve piping hot.