Stuffed Grape Leaves (Dolmas)
Rice, pine nuts, herbs, lemon, olive oil and grape leaves.
Maui's an app that plans a whole week of dinners like this one. See how it works ↓
Roll snug but not tight - rice swells as it cooks. Over-stuffed dolmas split open and weep filling into the pot. Aim for cigarillo-size rolls.
Ingredients
Everything below makes 4 servings.
- 1 jarjarred grape leaves in brinedrained, rinsed under cold water
- 1 cupshort-grain ricerinsed until water runs clear
- 1 mediumyellow onionvery finely diced
- 3garlic clovesminced
- ⅓ cuppine nuts
- ⅓ cupcurrants or raisins
- ½ cupfresh parsleyfinely chopped
- ¼ cupfresh dillfinely chopped
- 2 tbspfresh mintfinely chopped
- ½ tspground allspice
- ¼ tspground cinnamon
- ½ cupolive oil
- 3lemon2 juiced, 1 wedges
- 1¼ tspkosher salt
In the app these rescale to however many people you're feeding.
Nutrition
Per serving, as written.
- 360calories
- 7gprotein
- 42gcarbs
- 18gfat
Swaps move these numbers. A different protein or base changes them.
Instructions
Knife work first, then the stove. Nothing below asks you to chop while something burns.
- Drain grape leaves; rinse well under cold water to remove brine. Pat dry. Set aside 6-8 torn/damaged leaves for lining the pot.
- Rinse rice until water runs clear. Soak 15 min in cool water, drain.
- Very finely dice onion; mince garlic; finely chop parsley, dill, mint. Juice 2 lemons; wedge the third.
Make filling
Heat 3 tbsp olive oil in small saucepan over medium. Add onion and pinch salt; cook 6 min until soft. Add garlic and pine nuts; cook 2 min until pine nuts are golden. Off heat, stir in rice, currants, parsley, dill, mint, allspice, cinnamon, 1 tsp salt, and 2 tbsp lemon juice. The rice is still raw - it cooks in the leaves.
10 min · hands onRoll
Lay a leaf vein-side up, stem at the bottom. Place 1 heaping tsp filling near the stem. Fold stem end over, fold sides in, roll tightly into a small cigar (~2 inches). Repeat with all leaves and filling (~40 dolmas). Don't over-stuff - rice expands.
20 min · hands onLayer in pot
Line the bottom of the pot with the reserved torn leaves (prevents sticking and scorching). Pack rolled dolmas in tight concentric circles, seam-side down, in 2-3 layers.
5 min · hands onBraise
Pour remaining olive oil and remaining 2 tbsp lemon juice over the dolmas. Add 2 cups water - should come about halfway up. Place an inverted plate on top to weight them. Cover with lid. Bring to gentle simmer; cook 45-50 min on low until rice is tender (cut one open to check).
45 min · hands offRest and serve
Rest off heat 15 min before serving. Best room temp or chilled - squeeze fresh lemon over the top.
15 min · hands offMake it yours
Every swap here is one Maui already knows how to make, including what it does to the timing.
Brown lamb with onion in step 1; reduce rice to 3/4 cup. Adds about 5 minutes.
Brown beef with onion in step 1; reduce rice to 3/4 cup. Adds about 5 minutes.
Spoon plain Greek yogurt alongside, drizzle with olive oil.
Use unsweetened coconut yogurt.
What keeps
Excellent cold or room temp - keeps 5 days in fridge. Flavor improves overnight.
Freezes 2 months. Don't reheat too hot; gentle warming preserves texture.
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