ZEYTİNYAĞLI YAPRAK SARMASI

STUFFED GRAPE LEAVES WITH OLIVE OIL

My family has their own vineyard. We were collecting our own grape leaves  and boil them first in order to make this recipe when I was living in Turkey. 

   For me, this is the best vegetarian/vegan dish ever. I can have this dish for  every single meal, even as a snack with my afternoon tea.

It took me almost one hour to roll all the leaves. It is better to have someone with you to reduce the time you spent rolling them.

Ingredients:

• a jar of canned grape leaves ( 2 lb )
• 2 cups of uncooked rice
• 1/2 bunch of green onion ( chopped )
• 1 large size of onion ( chopped )
• 10 cloves of garlic ( chopped )
• 1/2 cup of olive oil
• 1 tsp of black pepper
• 2 lemon's juice
• 1 tbsp of salt
• 2 tbsp of tomato paste
• 1 tbsp of red pepper paste
• 1 cup of boiling water

Take olive oil, chopped onion, garlic and green onion in a large pot over medium heat. Stir and saute it for 5 minutes. Add tomato paste and red pepper paste in it and stir for 5 minutes. Add 1 cup of boiling water into the pot and stir. Bring it to the boil and add rice in it. Cover the lid and turn the heat down to low. Simmer until rice absorb all of the water. ( Rice will cook halfway. ) Turn the heat off and add pomegranate paste, salt, black pepper, lemon juice in it and stir. Set a side.
Take the jar of  grape leaves and drain its juice. Wash the leaves and drain the excess water.

 Take one of leaves on a flat surface. Place one tbsp of filling on the upper side of it and fold the sides inside and roll it. Repeat this step for all off the leaves.
Place all the rolls horizontally, side-by-side in a large pot. Add boiling water into the pot slowly, just to cover the rolls. Take the pot over medium heat and bring it to the boil. Turn the heat down to low as soon as it starts to bubble. Cover the lid and simmer for one hour or until the rolls are tender. Serve it warm or cold. 
We had it as a dinner with cacik.
Enjoy...