Best Stuffed Grape Leaves With Merguez Sausage Recipes

LAMB AND RICE STUFFED GRAPE LEAVES

Steps:

• Place ground lamb, rice, 1/4 cups olive oil, mint, currants, pine nuts, salt, pepper, cumin, cinnamon, oregano, and egg in a bowl. Mix together thoroughly with a fork. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
• Gently unroll and separate grape leaves. Rinse in cold water to remove brine. Drain. Reserve broken or less-than-perfect leaves to line pot.
• Place grape leaves on work surface with smooth side down (ribs of leaves up). Place a rounded tablespoon of lamb-rice filling near bottom-center of grape leaf. Fold bottom sections of leaf over mixture, fold over sides, and roll toward the top of the leaf into a firm cylinder. Don't roll too tightly or leaves may burst when rice cooks.
• Drizzle 1 tablespoon olive oil into pot; line bottom of pot with 1 or 2 layers of reserved grape leaves. Place dolmas in pot by arranging them along the sides, then working toward the center to cover the bottom. Leave enough space between dolmas to allow for expansion, but close enough to hold their shapes when cooking. If necessary, stack another layer on top of the first so they all fit. Pour in lemon juice and 2 teaspoons olive oil.
• Invert a small plate and then a larger plate over the dolmas to weigh them down while they cook and prevent them from shifting. Pour in hot chicken broth. Bring to a simmer, uncovered, over medium-high heat. As soon as liquid is heated through and starting to bubble (2 to 4 minutes), reduce heat to low, cover the pot, and cook 35 minutes. Remove plates and check for doneness. Dolmas should look a bit puffed up, and a fork should pierce them easily. If not quite done, continue cooking without the weights: cover the pot and simmer until rice is tender, 10 to 15 minutes longer.
• Serve warm or chilled. Garnish with curls of lemon zest, if desired.

MY OWN FAMOUS STUFFED GRAPE LEAVES

Steps:

• In a large saucepan over medium-high heat, saute the rice, onion, dill, and mint for about 5 minutes, or until onion is soft. Pour in 1 quart of broth, reduce heat to low and simmer for another 10 to 15 minutes, or until rice is almost cooked. Stir in 1/2 of lemon juice and remove from heat.
• Take one leaf, shiny side down, and place 1 teaspoon of the rice mixture at the bottom (stem) end of the leaf. Fold both sides of the leaf towards the center, roll up from the broad bottom to the top, and place into a 4-quart pot. Repeat with all leaves, leaving no gaps as leaves are placed in pot (to prevent from opening while cooking). Sprinkle with remaining lemon juice and with olive oil.
• Pour chicken broth over all to cover grape leaves. Cover pot and simmer for about 1 hour (do not boil, because this will make the stuffing burst out of the leaves). Remove from heat, remove cover and let cool for 1/2 hour. Transfer to serving dish and serve.

DOLMATHAKIA ME KIMA: STUFFED GRAPE LEAVES WITH MEAT AND RICE

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• Bring 8 cups of water to a boil in a large pot, and add the juice of 1/2 lemon and the salt. Carefully unroll the leaves (do not separate them). Turn off the heat and place the leaves in the hot water for 3 minutes.
• Remove the leaves and place them in a bowl and cover with cold water. When cooled, drain in a colander. It is not unusual for many of the outer leaves in the jar to be damaged or to tear while using. Set these aside to use later in the recipe.
• To prepare the filling, start by soaking the rice for 10 minutes in hot water and drain. (Alternatively, sauté the rice with the onion.)
• Sauté the onions in 1 tablespoon of olive oil until translucent, not browned.
• In a bowl, combine the onion, ground beef, rice, remaining olive oil, dill, mint, juice of 1 lemon, salt, and pepper. Mix well by hand.
• To fill and roll the leaves, gently separate one leaf and place it shiny-side down on a work surface. Place a heaping teaspoon (or more depending on the size of the leaf) of the filling on the leaf at the point where the stem joins the leaf.
• Fold up the bottom of the leaf over the filling, then each side inward in parallel folds, and roll up the leaf. The roll should be firm, not tight, as the filling will expand during cooking. Repeat until all the filling has been used.
• Because the leaves on the bottom can burn while the filling cooks, put a plate or wooden souvlaki skewers in the bottom of a heavy-bottomed pot (see tip below). The plate should fit snugly in the pot.
• If there are unused leaves or leaves that were torn and not used during the filling process, put them on the plate or on top of the skewers. Place the dolmathakia on top, packing them closely together (not squashed), seam side down, so they don't unroll during cooking. Layer them until all are in the pot (two to three layers are best, but no more than four layers). Place several unused leaves over the top.
• Take another plate and place it upside down on top of the dolmathakia, using something to weigh it down (a second plate works well). Add the 2 cups of water to the pot and cover. Bring the water to a gentle boil, add the remaining juice from the 1 1/2 lemons, reduce heat to low, and simmer for approximately 50 to 70 minutes. Check to see if done-if the rice has cooked, they are done. If not, continue cooking for another 10 minutes and check again. Cooking time depends both on the type of pot used and the particular stovetop heating element.
• If preferred, you can use a pressure cooker. No plates are needed but do use the skewers in the bottom. Pack the dolmathakia into the pressure cooker, add the 2 cups of water, close and cook for 15 to 20 minutes at the first pressure mark.

MILLET BOWL WITH STUFFED GRAPE LEAVES AND YOGURT-HUMMUS SAUCE

Steps:

• Make the millet: Bring 2 1/4 cups water to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the millet and 1 teaspoon salt. Stir, cover and reduce heat to medium-low. Cook the millet until it's tender and all the water has been absorbed, about 20 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat, and let sit, covered, for 15 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons of the oil, and fluff the millet with a fork. Serve warm or at room temperature. (The millet can be made and refrigerated, covered, up to 2 days ahead. Microwave just enough to take the chill off, about 2 minutes, stirring about halfway through.)
• Cook the sausage: While the millet cooks, heat the remaining 1 teaspoon oil in a medium nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the sausage, and cook, stirring frequently and breaking up into smaller, bite-size pieces, until the sausage is browned and cooked through, about 5 minutes.
• Make the yogurt-hummus sauce: Whisk together the yogurt, hummus, lemon juice, 1 tablespoon water, hot sauce and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a small bowl.
• Assemble the tomato-pepper salad: Stir together the tomatoes, peppers, parsley and a pinch of salt in another small bowl.
• Build the bowls: Divide the millet evenly among 4 bowls. Make neat piles and/or rows of the sausage, tomato-pepper salad, pickled beets, grape-leaf coins, cucumbers, sauce. Sprinkle with some french-fried onions and za'atar and serve with a lemon wedge.

ROASTED SAUSAGES WITH GRAPES AND ONIONS

Steps:

• Heat oven to 450 degrees. On a large (13-by-18-inch) rimmed baking sheet, toss together onion slices, 2 tablespoons oil, salt and pepper, and spread in an even layer. Roast for 8 to 12 minutes, until the onions turn translucent and the thinnest pieces take on a pale gold color at the edges.
• After 10 minutes, add grapes, seeds and the remaining 2 tablespoons oil to pan with onions, and toss well. Spread in an even layer and nestle sausage into the mixture.
• Roast until sausage has browned, 25 to 30 minutes, flipping sausage and tossing grapes and onions halfway through.
• Transfer sausages to a platter or to individual plates. Add parsley and chives to pan with grapes and onions and gently toss (this warms up and wilts the herbs). Use a slotted spoon to transfer grapes and onions to plates with the sausages.
• Add vinegar to rimmed baking sheet and scrape up any browned bits on the tray. Drizzle pan juices over the grapes and sausages, taste, and sprinkle more salt or vinegar on top, if desired.

STUFFED GRAPE LEAVES WITH MERGUEZ SAUSAGE

Steps:

• Prepare leaves:
• Unfurl stacks of grape leaves into a large bowl of water (leaves should remain stacked) and gently agitate without separating leaves. Blanch stacks in batches in a large saucepan of boiling water 3 minutes. Transfer stacks to a colander and refresh under cold running water.
• Make filling:
• Finely grate zest from lemons and squeeze 1/2 cup juice.
• Bring water with salt to a boil in a large saucepan and stir in rice. Cook rice, covered, over moderately low heat until water is absorbed, 17 to 20 minutes, and transfer rice to a large bowl.
• Remove sausage from casings and cook in a large nonstick skillet over moderate heat, stirring to break up lumps, until no longer pink. Cool to room temperature and crumble into 1/4-inch pieces.
• Cook onion with 3 tablespoons oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat, stirring, until soft but not browned and stir into rice with zest, 1/4 cup lemon juice, sausage, nuts, dill, parsley, currants, and salt and pepper to taste.
• Fill and roll grape leaves:
• Arrange 1 grape leaf, smooth side down, on a kitchen towel. Trim stem flush with leaf (if leaf is extra large, trim to about 5 1/2 inches wide), saving any trimmings. Spoon 1 tablespoon filling onto leaf near stem end and tightly roll up filling in leaf, folding in sides and squeezing roll to pack filling. (Roll should be about 3 1/2 inches long.) Make more rolls using remaining filling in same manner.
• Cook grape leaves:
• Heat broth just to a simmer and keep warm, covered. Line bottom of a large heavy pot with leaf trimmings and any remaining whole leaves and arrange rolls, seam sides down, close together in layers over leaves, seasoning each layer with salt. Drizzle with 4 tablespoons oil and remaining 1/4 cup lemon juice and cover with an inverted heatproof plate slightly smaller than pan, pressing down gently.
• Add just enough broth to reach rim of plate and bring to a boil. Cook rolls at a bare simmer, covered with plate and lid, 50 minutes (stuffed leaves should be tender, but filling should not be mushy). Remove from heat and transfer rolls with tongs to large trays to cool, brushing with remaining 3 tablespoons oil. Cover with plastic wrap and chill until cool.