Grape Leaves with meat - ورق عنب باللحمة

Makes around 24-25 (I prefer to eyeball or use as much as the filling makes)

This recipe can be served with a green salad and plain yogurt.

Ingredients:
Grapes leaves (24 small or medium, half of that if the leaves are big cause you can cut in half)

Filling:
1 cup of lean minced meat
1 cup of chopped onions or shallots
1/3 cup of small diced tomatoes
1/2 cup of plain white rice
1 teaspoon of allspice
Salt & pepper to taste

2 cups of water, 2 tablespoons of tomato paste, 1 teaspoon of flour to be mixed with some water. 2 Cinnamon sticks.

- In a bowl, add the minced meat, onions, tomatoes, wash the rice and drain and add to the bowl too, add the spices and mix the ingredients together.
- If the grape leaves are fresh, soak them in hot water for half an hour, then drain.
- If you are using the ones from the jar, soak in tab water for few minutes, then drain and use. To start filling, take the leaf and spread it on the surface you're using, cut the stem, take a teaspoon or less depending on the size of the leaf and place the filling a bit before the center, fold the sides toward the center and roll tight. In order for them to unravel and fall apart while cooking, I tie them up together. I place three stuffed grape leaves, then two on top, then another one or two like forming a triangle, I tie them up together with a string and place in the pan, add the water and tomato paste, cinnamon sticks and bring to a boil, add the flour mixed with a little bit of cold water then reduce the heat and let them cook slowly for half an hour. Remove the cinnamon sticks and discard when serving the grape leaves.

PS: If you end up with extra filling, keep them in the freezer or stuff a bellpepper, tomato etc... ;)

rice

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Vegetarian Grape leaves (Wara2 Enab Bzeit) - ورق عنب بالزيت

In this recipe, you need to eyeball the amount of grape leaves, depending on the size of the leaves too. So I'm just gonna assume that we're using 100gr of leaves and here's a useful tip: if you roll them all and still have some filling left, very simple: stuff a potato, tomato or a bellpepper!

Filling Ingredients:
1 big tomato or 2 medium ones diced.
1 medium onion diced
3/4 cup of rice (any kind, I prefer white)
1 bunch of fresh parsley chopped
Juice of 1 big lemon or 2 small
1/2 tablespoon of allspice (or 7 spices)
1/2 tablespoon of salt
1/2 cup of olive oil (or a bit more)

Preparing the Pan:
Take few leaves and line them up in the bottom of the pan (why? cause grape leaves stick quickly to any pan! and then add on top of those the sliced potato.

If you are using fresh grape leaves, soak them in hot water and some salt for half an hour, or until completely soft then drain. If you are using the ones that you buy in the jar, soak them in warm water for few minutes then let them drain.

- Mix all the ingredients together and get ready to roll.
Rolling grape leaves:
Cut the stems if there's any and start adding the filling in the middle of the leaf, then fold the sides and roll while pressing a bit to let the juice out and also to make it a bit tight so it doesn't fall apart. (just like spring rolls). Then line them up in the pan on top of the potato layer. After you finish, get a plate that can fit inside the pan, flip it upside down and place it on top of the grape leaves to press them so when they start cooking they don't fall apart. Now add water just to cover them and let them cook on medium for about 12 minutes, if they boil too much reduce the heat. It's optional to add more lemon juice while they cook. Tasting one is always better to check if they're done :)

Vegetarian

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