Stuffed Grape Leaves

 

These rolled grape leaves are a great appetizer or just a great meal. In a Mediterranean Restaurant you might see it on the Menu as Dolmathes. 

Ingredients:

1 jar grape leaves

2 Tbls. olive oil

1 large onion finely chopped

Salt, Pepper and Garlic to taste

3/4 C short-grain rice, 1 1/4 C chicken stock

1 C cooked breakfast sausage (cook it until small crumbles and very brown)

1/3 C fresh dill chopped

1/4 C fresh mint chopped

1 Tbls. grated lemon zest and 2 Tbls lemon juice

What to do:

Take 24 of the biggest intact leaves from the jar, rinse and pat dry and set aside.

Brown the sausage in a dutch oven, once browned  remove from the pan leaving the drippings. Add the 2 Tbls. olive oil, salt and pepper and the chopped onion and cook until done.

Cook the rice in the chicken stock with salt, pepper and garlic to taste. Cook the rice to almost done but not completely. (firm in the center of the kernal) Cool the rice for a few minutes and add the mint, dill and the lemon zest. Add the sausage to the rice mixture. Taste the mixture and add salt and pepper to your taste.

Assembling:

Line the bottom of the dutch oven with grape leave you aren't using to roll up the mixture. Like the small or torn ones. This will keep the rolls from burning when cooking them. Take a grape leaf smooth side down on the counter. Add a heaping Tbls of the mixture to the leaf towards the stem end. Fold in the sides then the bottom and roll TIGHTLY towards the top. If they are not rolled tightly they will become loose when cooking. Place seam side down in the lined pot. Continue this process lining the bottom with rolls then start a new row stacked on top of the first row. This should make about 24- 26 rolls. Add chicken stock and lemon juice to the pot just until the middle of the top row is covered. Bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat . Cover the pot and and reduce the heat to low. Cook about 40-45 minutes. 

Gently remove the rolls and place on a serving platter. You can drizzle with olive oil if you wish. These are good warm or room temperature.