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Ingredients

• 16 oz jar grape leaves in brie (available from Middle Eastern markets)
  
• 1 cup long grain rice
  
• 1 cup chopped yellow onions
  
• 2 Tbs. olive oil
  
• ¼ cup pine nuts
  
• ½ cup dried currants
  
• 2 tsp. dried dillweed
  
• 1 tsp. salt
  
• ¼ tsp. fresh ground pepper
  
• 2 Tbs. tomato paste
  
• Juice of 1 lemon
  
• 2 cups Chicken stock

Directions

Place the rice in a 1 qt saucepan and add 2 cups water. Cover and bring to a boil. Turn off the heat and allow the rice to sit for 10 minutes, then drain.

In a medium frying pan, sauté the onions in 1 Tbls of the olive oil until clear. Transfer to a bowl.

Toast the pine nuts in the remaining 1Tbls olive oil until very light brown. Set aside to cool.

Add the rice, pine nuts, currants, dillweed, salt, and pepper to the onions and mix well.

Place a grape leaf on a flat surface and set 3 Tbls of the rice mixture in the center. Roll up into a little bundle with the ends tucked in, as you would wrap a package or a cigar. Continue making bundles until all the filling has been used.

Place a few of the larger remaining leaves on the bottom of a 3 qt pot. Arrange a layer of stuffed grape leaves, seam sides down, close together in the pot; they should fit snugly. Place another layer of unfilled leaves on top, and continue to layer the stuffed leaves in the pot ending with a layer of unfilled leaves.

Mix the tomato paste and lemon juice with the chicken stock and pour over the grape leaves. Place a glass plate, upside down, on the top of the leaves. Bring to a simmer over medium-low heat, and simmer for 30 minutes. You might want to use a heat diffuser under the pot for best results. Do not open the lid during the cooking time.

Allow the rolls to cool in the pot, untouched and unopened. Then serve or refrigerate. Serve cold or at room temperature.

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Copyright 2002, Dan Dodson