To roll the leaves up, place 1 teaspoon of mixture in the bottom center of the grape leaf. fold the bottom edge over the stuffing, then fold the sides in and roll up. If there are longer leaves hanging out there, fold them in as you roll so the resulting dolmas are nice and neat.
Place a double layer of grape leaves on the bottom of the pan so the dolma don’t stick to the bottom as they cook.
To make the production a little more efficient, you can lay out four or five leaves, place the stuffing on each one and then roll them up.
What I like about these is that the rice expands while it cooks so it fills out the leaves making nice tight little packets of delicious goodness. So yeah, 1 teaspoon of stuffing is right. It seems small, but you don’t want so much that the rice expands and bursts through the leaf.
Looking for a vegan appetizer, but not this one? Try one of these:
Armenian Dolma (Stuffed Grape Leaves)
Ingredients
Dolmas
- 1 cup rice long grain
- 1 med onion chopped fine
- 1/2 cup tomato sauce
- ½ cup fresh mint chopped
- ½ cup fresh parsley chopped
- 1 tsp salt
- ¼ tsp pepper
- ½ cup evoo
- ½ cup lemon juice
- 1 jar grape leaves
Yogurt Mint Sauce
- 1 cup sour cream plant-based
- 1 clove garlic smashed
- 1 Tbsp fresh mint chopped
Instructions
Prepare Grape Leaves
- Remove leaves from jar and soak in cool water. Carefully pull them apart, trim any large stems and rinse. Set on a dish towel to dry slightly while preparing filling.
Prepare Filling
- Rinse rice to remove the starch, about 3 or 4 times until water runs clear. Chop mint, parsley, and onion, place in bowl. Add tomato sauce. Then rice. Season with salt and pepper, adding more or less, to taste as desired. Drizzle ¼ cup of olive oil over. Combine all ingredients.
Assembly
- To prevent sticking, cover bottom of a Dutch oven or large saucepan with two layers of grape leaves.
- Lay each leaf shiny side down on a clean surface. Add one teaspoon of the stuffing to the center of each leaf, being careful not to overfill as the rice will expand during cooking. Fold the bottom of the leaf up and over the stuffing. Then fold in the sides and roll upwards ensuring the filling is securely enclosed. You may need to fold in the sides again as you roll. It should be tight enough to not unwrap during cooking, but there needs to be some room for the rice to expand. Arrange the stuffed rolls side by side, seam-side down in the pan, layer as needed. Cover the dolmas with a plate. Pour enough water over filled grape leaves to cover generously with water, about 6 cups, then pour ¼ cup lemon juice and ¼ cup of olive oil over. Weigh down the plate if it is too light, you don't want the dolmas floating away.
- Bring liquid to simmer until filling is tender, 45-55 minutes. These can be done 3 days ahead. Cover and chill. The dolma is really best at room temperature or slightly warm. Although some recipes say you can freeze extra, I don't recommend it. We tried it and the dolma were really watery after they thawed out.
Yogurt Mint Sauce
- Mix all sauce ingredients together and chill.