Dolma or Stuffed Grape Leaves

I seldom see these tasty mediterranean delights outside of ethnic restaurants and delis. To many folks they may seem a lot of work for so little payoff. But really they are quite simple to make, aside from the bit of extra time it takes to roll each one. Yes, you can go to a local deli and buy them pre-made, but homemade dolmas allow you to use up left overs, control what goes into them and you get the bragging rights when your guests oooo and ahhh over these tasty morsels.

Mezzetta brand is my favorite!

You needn't deal with the gathering of the grape leaves themselves. There are several fine companies which take care of that for you. I like the Mezzetta brand, the makers of a variety of olive, pepper and other pickled products. One jar will give you enough grape leaves to make 25-30 or so dolmas, enough to fill an 8 1/2 by 11 casserole. Plenty for an appie at your next party.  

To prepare the filling for your dolmas, either make some cooked rice, white or brown, if you want to be healthy about it. Or perhaps you have some left over rice from a previous meal. Place it into a mixing bowl. Allow to cool to room temperature. Decide what you want to add to the filing mixture. Traditional additions might include ground lamb, pine nuts, currants, mint, onions, tomato paste and any number of spices including allspice, cinnamon, dill and cumin. But don't feel like you need to hold to tradition. Ground beef will work fine. Don't like allspice? Leave it out. Ran out of pine nuts? Leave them out, too. Use what you have in the fridge and spice cabinet. Any number of recipes are available on-line if you just really must have a specific recipe.

My bowl of dolma filling

Here is the sequence of my most recent effort. I used brown rice, mint (chiffonade the mint) from my garden, diced carrots, diced pickled red peppers from a jar I had in the fridge, raisins, shredded parmesan cheese and salt and pepper to taste.

I added ingredients to the mixing bowl until I liked the color of the mixture. Mine came out looking like a bowl of paella! 

I drained the jar of grape leaves and then carefully unfolded them so that they laid flat on my preparation surface. One leaf at a time usually although it is okay to use two small ones and overlap them to help make the dolmas more consistent in size. Lay the grape leaf with the veins of the leaf facing up and place the stem end at the top. Spoon a little of your filling onto the leaf just below the stem. You'll get the hang of how much you need after a couple of tries. Fold the right and left lobes of the leaves inward toward the middle and then roll as tightly as you can like you are making a burrito tucking in the edges of the leaf as you roll. Be patient, you'll get the hang of it. 

As you get each dolma rolled, place it into an 8 1/2 by 11 inch glass casserole so they sit snug against each other. Pour broth, either chicken or beef or lamb if you have it, into the casserole and then a dry white wine until the dolmas are covered about half way up their sides. Pour olive oil over the dolmas, cover the casserole with foil and bake in a 350 degree oven for 1 hour or until the grape leaves are tender. 

I guarantee these tasty tidbits will fly off the plate when you put them out on the table. Buon apetito!