Description
These lamb and rice stuffed grape leaves (dolmas) take some time and effort to put together, so maybe make a double batch. In restaurants these are usually meatless, but I love the lamb in these. No matter what you use, how much rice you use will affect how much liquid you need.
Ingredients
- ½ pound ground lamb
- ½ cup uncooked long grain rice
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
- 1 tablespoon dried currants
- 1 tablespoon pine nuts
- 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 large egg
- 1 (16 ounce) jar grape leaves
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- juice of one lemon
- 4 cups hot chicken broth
- 2 teaspoons olive oil, or as desired
Instructions
- Place ground lamb
- rice
- 1/4 cups olive oil
- mint
- currants
- pine nuts
- salt
- pepper
- cumin
- cinnamon
- oregano
- and egg in a bowl. Mix together thoroughly with a fork. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
- Gently unroll and separate grape leaves. Rinse in cold water to remove brine. Drain. Reserve broken or less-than-perfect leaves to line pot.
- Place grape leaves on work surface with smooth side down (ribs of leaves up). Place a rounded tablespoon of lamb-rice filling near bottom-center of grape leaf. Fold bottom sections of leaf over mixture
- fold over sides
- and roll toward the top of the leaf into a firm cylinder. Don’t roll too tightly or leaves may burst when rice cooks.
- Drizzle 1 tablespoon olive oil into pot; line bottom of pot with 1 or 2 layers of reserved grape leaves. Place dolmas in pot by arranging them along the sides
- then working toward the center to cover the bottom. Leave enough space between dolmas to allow for expansion
- but close enough to hold their shapes when cooking. If necessary
- stack another layer on top of the first so they all fit. Pour in lemon juice and 2 teaspoons olive oil.
- Invert a small plate and then a larger plate over the dolmas to weigh them down while they cook and prevent them from shifting. Pour in hot chicken broth. Bring to a simmer
- uncovered
- over medium-high heat. As soon as liquid is heated through and starting to bubble (2 to 4 minutes)
- reduce heat to low
- cover the pot
- and cook 35 minutes. Remove plates and check for doneness. Dolmas should look a bit puffed up
- and a fork should pierce them easily. If not quite done
- continue cooking without the weights: cover the pot and simmer until rice is tender
- 10 to 15 minutes longer.
- Serve warm or chilled. Garnish with curls of lemon zest
- if desired.
Prep Time: 45 mins
Cook Time: 45 mins
Total Time: 1 hr 30 mins
Servings: 8