Grape Leaves Stuffed with Pine Nuts, Currants, and Golden Raisins

Name: Grape Leaves Stuffed with Pine Nuts, Currants, and Golden Raisins
Prep time: 4 h
Cook time: 4 h
Total time: 4 h
Yield: 30
Cuisine: Global
Ingredients: 30 servings currants; 30 servings dill; 30 servings garlic; 30 servings golden raisins; 1 leave grape; 30 servings Lemon; 30 servings lemon juice; 30 servings lemon zest; 30 servings mint; 30 servings olive oil; 30 servings onion; 30 servings pine nuts; 30 servings salt; 30 servings short grain rice; 30 servings retsina

Need a gluten free and vegan side dish? Grape Leaves Stuffed with Pine Nuts, Currants, and Golden Raisins could be an outstanding recipe to try. This recipe covers 15% of your daily requirements of vitamins and minerals. One serving contains 496 calories, 7g of protein, and 21g of fat. This recipe serves 30. A mixture of short grain rice, salt, mint, and a handful of other ingredients are all it takes to make this recipe so delicious. From preparation to the plate, this recipe takes approximately 4 hours.

Instructions

Combine the currants and raisins with the retsina in a small bowl and let stand for at least 1 hour, or preferably overnight.

Ingredients you will need

Currants

Raisins

Equipment you will use

Bowl

If using fresh grape leaves, bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Drop in the leaves, pressing down to submerge them, and blanch until they are no longer bright green, about 2 minutes.

Ingredients you will need

Grape Leaves

Water

Equipment you will use

Pot

Drain immediately, rinse in cool water, and gently squeeze out the excess liquid. Set aside. If using bottled grape leaves, remove them from the jar gently to avoid tearing, and squeeze out the excess liquid. Set aside.

Ingredients you will need

Grape Leaves

Water

Heat the oil in a medium-size skillet over medium-high heat.

Ingredients you will need

Cooking Oil

Equipment you will use

Frying Pan

Add the rice, onion, garlic, pine nuts, zest, and salt, reduce the heat to medium, and saut until the onion is transparent, about 5 minutes.

Ingredients you will need

Pine Nuts

Garlic

Onion

Rice

Salt

Add the currants and raisins, with their liquid, and saut until the liquid has mostly evaporated, about 3 minutes. (The rice will not be cooked through.)

Ingredients you will need

Currants

Raisins

Rice

Remove from the heat and stir in the dill and mint leaves.

Ingredients you will need

Mint

Dill

Line the bottom and sides of a medium-size pot or saut pan with torn or extra grape leaves and some of the reserved dill and mint stems.

Ingredients you will need

Grape Leaves

Dill

Mint

Equipment you will use

Frying Pan

Pot

On a counter, lay out as many grape leaves, veined side up, as you have room for.

Ingredients you will need

Grape Leaves

Place about tablespoon of the rice mixture near the stem end of each leaf.

Ingredients you will need

Rice

Roll the bottom of the leaf up over the stuffing. Then fold in the sides of the leaf to partially enclose the filling. Continue rolling to completely enclose the filling, forming a stubby cylinder.

Ingredients you will need

Stuffing

Roll

As you fill and roll the leaves, tightly pack the dolmadakia, leaf tip down, in the pan, forming concentric circles until the bottom is completely covered. When one layer is complete, make a second layer.

Ingredients you will need

Roll

Equipment you will use

Frying Pan

Continue stuffing, rolling, and tightly packing the leaves until all the stuffing is used. Try to keep the top layer as even and flat as possible, even if it is not complete. Cover the top layer with the remaining dill and mint stems and any extra grape leaves.

Ingredients you will need

Grape Leaves

Stuffing

Dill

Mint

Fill the pan with enough water to barely cover the leaves.

Ingredients you will need

Water

Equipment you will use

Frying Pan

Pour the lemon juice over all. Weight down the dolmadakia with a heavy plate or a slightly smaller pan partially filled with water. Set the pan on the stove and bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce the heat and simmer until the rice is tender, 1 hour.

Ingredients you will need

Lemon Juice

Water

Rice

Equipment you will use

Stove

Frying Pan

Remove, taste a dolma to make sure the rice is done, and allow to cool.

Ingredients you will need

Rice

When the dolmadakia are cool enough to handle, carefully pour off the liquid, pressing down on the leaves slightly to extract the excess liquid. Chill until completely cool.

Ingredients you will need

Extract