Stuffed Vine Leaves

(Koupepia/Dolmades)

Dolma is a family of stuffed vegetable dishes common in the Middle East and surrounding regions including the Balkans, the Caucasus, Russia, Central Asia. Common vegetables to stuff include tomato, pepper, onion, zucchini, eggplant, and garlic. The stuffing may or may not include meat. Meat dolmades are generally served warm, meatless ones are generally served cold.

Here we present a meat version.

Ingredients

fresh vine leaves (or packet of frozen vine leaves or jar of vine leaves in brine)

1 onion

1/2 kg minced pork or lamb or beef

1/3 cup oil

1 cup ripe tomatoes, blended

1/2 cup rice

fresh mint

parsley, finely chopped

lemon juice (3-4 lemons)

cinnamon

salt, pepper

Preparation

–     Wash the vine leaves and put in boiling water.

–     Let them boil for 2 minutes, remove and drain.

–     Fry the onion and add the minced meat until it is slightly browned.

–     Add the tomato and simmer for 3 minutes, stirring from time to time.

–     Take the pan off the heat and add the rest of the ingredients (salt, rice, pepper, cinnamon, mint, half the lemon juice and parsley) and mix.

–     Lay out the vine leaves, veins upwards, put 1 tsp of the minced meat mixture on the stalk of each leaf, fold over the sides and roll up tightly.

–     Line the bottom of a saucepan with vine leaves and place them closely together in layers.

–   Add a little olive oil, the rest of the lemon juice and some water.

–     Place a plate on top of the koupepia/dolmades and cook over a low heat for approximately 30 minutes.

Source: moa.gov.cy