Authentic Greek Dolmades Recipes

GREEK DOLMADES RECIPE: STUFFED GRAPE LEAVES - ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW!

Steps:

• First, peel and mince the red onion and the garlic.
• Then, reduce the spring onions into thin rounds.
• At this point, pour the vegetables into a saucepan along with 3 tbsp of olive oil and sauté 20 minutes over medium heat until the onion becomes soft and translucent.
• Now, add the rice into the pan, and sauté a couple of minutes along with the onions.
• Then, add 1 cup of boiling water and simmer the rice half of the time suggested onto the box, stirring as needed.
• If the water evaporates too early, add a little more: at the end, you want the rice half cooked, and the water completely evaporated.
• Finally, add salt and pepper to taste, cover the pan with a lid and let it rest far from the heat.
• At this point, rinse, dry and mince the herbs, and combine with the rice and onions.
• Eventually, pour the rice stuffing into a plate and let it reach room temperature.
• First, bring to boil a pot full of water. Then, place the pot far from the heat and poach immediately the leaves a couple of minutes.
• Finally, rinse the leaves with cold water.
• Now, line the bottom of a pot with a layer of grape leaves: these to protect the dolmades.
• At this point let's prepare the dolmades! Spread out one or two grape leaves, depending on their size.
• Then, place a tbsp of rice stuffing over the leaf, and roll the dolma folding the borders.
• Finally, place the dolma into the pot. Repeat this step to finish the leaves and stuffing, assembling more layers of dolmades.
• Now, pour the juice of the lemons, and the rest of the olive oil over dolmades.
• Then, place a plate over the dolmades. You want the plate to adhere to the rolls, and be a little smaller than the inner of the pot: otherwise, the dolmades will float during the cooking.
• Finally, submerge the plate and the rolls with water, cover the pot with a lid, and simmer gently about 45 minutes. Monitor the water during the cooking: if it starts to run out, add some more hot water.
• Once ready, let the dolmades cool down, then serve warm or at room temperature along with tzatziki or your preferred sauces.

DOLMADES

Steps:

• Drain, rinse and dry grape leaves.
• Place off to the side.
• In a large bowl mix ground round, Lamb, salt, pepper, minced parsley, onion chopped, crushed or pressed garlic and Tabuli (or rice); mix well.
• Lay out one grape leaf stem up, place about 1 rounded tablespoon meat mixture near stem.
• Fold stem up over meat mixture fold one side leaf over mixture, fold top over then roll the rest but not tight.
• This is just like making a burrito.
• I use toothpicks to keep the stuffed leaves together.
• Place in at least 1 gal pot.
• Continue until all leaves are filled and snug in pot.
• If you run out of grape leaves that's okay, you can roll little balls of meat mixture and place in pot.
• Cover all stuffed leaves with chicken broth adding water if you don't have enough broth, more broth if you have it on hand (you can use just water if you want).
• Bring the broth to a boil then turn heat to low, simmer and cook covered until tender (pierced with a fork) about 30 minutes.
• Remove about 1 quart of broth from pot and let cool down a little.
• You want it hot just not scalding hot.
• In another bowl beat 4 eggs until frothy adding slowly juice from lemon.
• Take the warmed broth and add to the egg mixture slowly a 1/2 ladle at a time still beating the egg mixture.
• After all broth is mixed with egg & lemon slowly add to pot on stove.
• Cover the pot and turn flame off.
• Let sit for about 10 minutes then serve.
• I like it tart and rich so I use more eggs and lemon then the recipe calls for.
• You can experiment how many eggs and lemon you want for the egg lemon broth.
• Leftover broth in pot makes good Avgolemono (Egg Lemon soup).

DOLMATHES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
• Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Saute onions until tender. Stir in rice and brown slightly. Add 3 1/2 cups water, and half of the lemon juice. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes, or until all liquid is absorbed and rice is tender. Stir in dill, parsley and pine nuts.
• Remove stems from grape leaves and place 1 tablespoon of rice mixture in the center. Fold in the sides and roll tightly. Place, folded side down, in a baking dish and cover with remaining olive oil, lemon juice and enough water to cover 1/2 of the dolmathas.
• Cover with aluminum foil and bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes.

DOLMADES - AUTHENTIC GREEK STUFFED GRAPE LEAVES W/ MEAT (SOUTHER

Steps:

• Unroll grape leaves and place in a pot of boiling water. Reduce heat to medium and let boil for 10 minutes. Remove from heat, pour out hot water, and cover leaves with cold water. Let soak while preparing stuffing.
• Knead the rest of the ingredientes together. Spoon filling inside a leaf and roll like a burrito, sealing completely.
• In large pot, add olive oil to cover bottom or butter. Arrange rolled dolmades on top. Do this all at once, not as you roll them. Pour chicken broth over dolmades, cover, and simmer for 2 hours.
• Serve with Greek yogurt and lemon wedges.

GREEK DOLMADES RECIPE (STUFFED VINE/ GRAPE LEAVES DOLMATHES)

Steps:

• To make this traditional Greek dolmades recipe (stuffed vine/ grape leaves), start by preparing the vine leaves. For this dolmades recipe, you can either use vine leaves sold in jars or fresh (if you are lucky enough to find them). If you use the ones in jar, rinse the vine leaves, remove the stems and leave them in a colander to drain. If using fresh vine leaves, wash them thoroughly, remove the stems and blanch them in boiling hot water. Remove the leaves with a slotted spoon and place them in a colander to cool down completely.
• Prepare the filling for the stuffed vine/ grape leaves (dolmades). Place the rice in a colander and rinse with running water. Heat a large saucepan over medium heat, add 1/3 of the olive oil and the chopped onions. Sauté the onions, until translucent (but not coloured). Add the rice and sauté for 1 more minute. Pour in 2 cups of warm water and half lemon juice and simmer for about 7 minutes, until the rice absorbs all the water and is parboiled. Season with salt and pepper, stir in the herbs, remove from the stove and set aside to cool down for a while. This will be the filling for the dolmades.
• Layer the bottom of a large pot with some vine leaves (use the ones that are little bit torn) and start rolling the dolmadakia. (This is probably the most difficult part of the traditional dolmades recipe). Place one vine leaf (shiny side down) on a flat surface and add 1 tsp of the filling at the bottom end (stem). Be careful not to overfill the dolmades, as the rice will expand during cooking. Fold the lower section of the leaf over the filling towards the center; bring the two sides in towards the center and roll them up tightly. Place the stuffed vine leaves (fold side down) on the bottom of the pot and top in snugly layers. Be careful not to leave any gaps between the dolmades to prevent them from cracking open when cooking.
• Drizzle the stuffed vine leaves (dolmathes) with the rest of the olive oil and lemon juice and season with salt and pepper. Place an inverted plate on top to hold them down when cooking and pour in enough water just to cover them. Place the lid on and simmer the dolmades for about 30-40 minutes, until the water has been absorbed and the dolmades remain only with the oil.
• Remove the pot from the heat, remove the lid and plate and let the dolmades cool for at least 30 minutes.
• Serve this delicious Greek appetizer cold or at room temperature with a squeeze of a lemon. Give this traditional dolmades recipe a try and enjoy your own fresh homemade stuffed grape leaves (dolmades)!