DOLMADES: VEGETARIAN STUFFED GRAPE LEAVES
Yield:
25-30 dolmades
Ingredients
- 8 ounces grape leaves from a jar, rinsed, drained, and stems removed
- 1/2 cup long grain rice
- 3/4 cup olive oil
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 1 cup water
- 2 lemons, juiced (1/2 cup or more)
- 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
- 1 tablespoon chopped mint
- 1 teaspoon dried dill
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Sauté onions with 1/3 of the olive oil over medium low heat about 15-20 minutes or until very soft and lightly golden. Do not brown the onions.
- Add rice and mix to combine.
- Pour 1 cup water, half of the lemon juice, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 6-7 minutes or until the rice absorbs all of the liquid. At this point the rice is only par boiled.
- Add all the herbs and mix well. Cool completely.
- Rinse and dry the grape leaves. Cut the hard stem from each leaf. Reserve the smallest and the torn leaves to lay on bottom of pot.
- Lay a grape leaf shiny side down and place a tablespoon of rice filling on the bottom end of the leaf, near the stem.
- Fold the stem end of leaf over the filling. Fold the sides over and roll up snugly but not too tight. The rice will expand a bit more while cooking.
- Repeat with all of the remaining grape leaves until your filling is done.
- Layer half of the small and torn grape leaves to create a bed for the dolmades in a pot.
- Place the dolmades seam side down and very close together over the bed of leaves. Season lightly with salt and pepper.
- Pour the remaining olive oil and lemon juice over the dolmades.
- Place the remaining reserved small leaves over the dolmades.
- Pour enough water to just cover the dolmades.
- Place an inverted plate over the dolmades to weigh them down and to prevent them from moving around and opening while cooking.
- Cover with lid and bring to a boil.
- Reduce to simmer and cook for 35-40 minutes.
- There will still be some liquid in the pot. Allow to cool for at least 30 minutes and the juices will be absorbed.
- Plate and drizzle some olive oil over them. Serve with delicious tzatziki sauce.
- Enjoy!
This was so good! I’ve been looking for a recipe that doesn’t have the ground beef in it and this was just perfect. Thank you for your videos that do a wonderful job at clearly explaining the steps:)
Dear Dimitra,
So excited to make this recipe with help from my 8yr old granddaughter! As Greek American, not growing up Greek, I’ve always wished I had my Yiayia to teach me. Now I have you! I’m old enough to be YOU’RE Yiayia but you have taught me so much.
One question, i used the two lemons, and I love lemon, but the leaves were super lemony. I used fresh harvested leaves from my grape vine that I did not blanch but froze until use. Could they have gone overboard absorbing the lemon?
Love to look at your recipes Dimitri. Tried the Spanakopita -twice. Delicious! & well received by guests. Dolmades & ekmek kataifi – when the pastry is delivered. Just one question – is there any way of judging the calorie content of these dishes?
Hi Carol!! Unfortunately, I do not have any way of converting the recipes to get the nutritional info but, I’m guessing that google can help with this 🙂
Is it better to cook in a smaller pot in several layers or 1 very large skillet in one or two layers
I prefer cooking it in 2 layers however, I’ve made them in a smaller pot too. Just make sure to cover them with water or broth so that they cook evenly. Enjoy!