These stuffed grape leaves were part of Project Eat That Rice and part the result of my dashing husband opening a jar of preserved grape leaves a friend had jarred and given to me. He thought they were already stuffed and ready to eat. Just imagine his disppointment when instead of luscious and rich rice filled leaves with plenty of olive oil he was met with plain old leaves blanched and jarred in salt water. It’s quite sad, really.
But it has a happy ending: I made stuffed grape leaves and they were delicious, if I do say so myself. And I have a back-up source, my toughest critic. My dashing husband declared them remarkably flavorful and served himself three (3!) helpings. Eat them as you like, but we liked them with a squirt of lemon juice and a bit of fresh goat cheese alongside.
Brown rice stuffed grape leaves
2 Tbsp. olive oil
4 onions, finely chopped
1 tsp. salt
2 garlic cloves, minced
8 green onions, finely chopped
2 cups short grain brown rice
1/2 cup pine nuts
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper (it seems like a lot, but it works)
1/4 cup minced fresh mint (same as for pepper)
5 dozen grape leaves
Extra delicioso olive oil for drizzling
Lemon wedges
Fresh goat cheese or soft feta (optional)
Heat a saute pan or medium pot over medium-high heat. Add oil, onion, and salt. Cook, stirring a fair amount, until onions are tender, about 3 minutes. Add garlic and cook until tender, about 1 minute. Add green onion and cook, stirring, until wilted, about 1 minute. Add rice, stir to coat thoroughly, and add 3 cups water. Bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to low. Cook, undisturbed, for 30 minutes. Turn off heat and let sit 15 minutes. Uncover, fluff, and stir in pine nuts and sunflower seeds. Let sit until just warm and stir in pepper and mint. Taste and adjust salt and pepper to taste.
Lay a grape leaf in front of you. Add a spoonful of filling to the center by the stem. Fold up the bits of leaf below the stem and tuck under – as you can – to form a little bundle. Fold sides of leaves over the filling bundle and roll entire bundle to wrap completely in the remaining grape leaf.
Place stuffed and rolled grape leaves on a lightly oiled baking tray. Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 350 for about half and hour. Uncover and drizzle grape leaves with high quality, really tasty olive oil. Let sit until warm or cool and serve with lemon wedges for spritzing and goat cheese, if that’s your style.
celeritas | 02-Mar-09 at 4:56 pm | Permalink
Our Kurdish friends love dolma but as grape leaves aren’t always available they usually use silver beat leaves. I think that dolma is even better like that – do try it.
nori | 03-Mar-09 at 1:34 am | Permalink
I couldnt pass this entry without making a comment. First of all it looks delicious. As “stuffed grape leaves” reffer to a aegean sea cusine(belongs to Greek as well as Turkish cuisine), I see you use “dolma” word. “Dolma” means stuffed, thats true. But it reffers to dishes like, where the vegetable is litterally “stuffed”. Such as, tomatoes, green peppers, red peppers
But the very right word in turkish, is “sarma” which means that the vegetable is “rolled”. Such as grape leaves, beat leaves, cabbage etc. I would like to suggest you, dont pre-cook the ingredients. Just toss them together (uncooked), then roll the leaves, place them tightly in a cook dish, add some tap-water (depends on the how many rolls you have), cook with lemon slices and serve with olive oil 
Thank you.
Molly | 03-Mar-09 at 10:35 am | Permalink
Thanks for the suggestion!
Nippah | 05-Mar-09 at 1:09 pm | Permalink
I’ve seen a lot of recipes for stuffed grape leaves, but this is the first one that called for baking them. How did you keep them from drying out in the oven? My family’s been making grape leaves for generations, and I second nori’s suggestion about not pre-cooking the ingredients. Also, if you do try cooking them in a pot on a stovetop, don’t forget to put a heat-proof dish on top of the stuffed rolls to weigh ‘em down.
Molly Watson | 06-Mar-09 at 10:05 am | Permalink
They don’t dry out because they’re all covered in foil and drizzled with olive oil. The stovetop with water method has, for me, always led to the slightly mushier stuffed grape leaves that, while delicious, were exactly what I was trying to avoid with this recipe! I wanted to keep some of the grape leaf texture, which this does. They are not dry at all, but they have more body than the softer steamed versions. I make no claim to authenticity here – just deliciousness!