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Nutrition Facts
Serving Size 1 grape leaves 12g Recipe makes 225 grape leaves)
Calories 22
Calories from Fat 10		(45%)
Amount Per Serving		%DV
	Total Fat 1.2g	1%
	Saturated Fat 0.5g	2%
	Monounsaturated Fat 0.4g
	Polyunsaturated Fat 0.1g
	Trans Fat 0.0g
Cholesterol 3mg		1%
Sodium 149mg		6%
Potassium 16mg		0%
Total Carbohydrate 2.2g		0%
	Dietary Fiber 0.1g	0%
	Sugars 0.0g
Protein 1.1g		2%
how is this calculated?

Lebanese Grape Leaves

Recipe #21001 | 2¼ hours | 2 hours prep | add private note

⁽³⁾ RATE IT NOW Print Recipe

By: CathyV.com
Mar 1, 2002

My grandmothers recipe for "grape leaves". My daughters are usually in charge of cutting the leaves. If they help roll, we can really get the job done quickly.

225 grape leaves (change servings and units)

Ingredients

2 (16 ounce) jars grape leaves
2 1/4 lbs ground lamb
2 1/4 cups long grain white rice
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
12 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon mint
3 lemons

Directions

1
Place rice in a medium sized bowl and cover with 3 cups of cold water.
2
Let stand for 30-60 minutes.
3
Drain and rinse grape leaves in a colander.
4
Cut leaves in half removing the thick center stem.
5
Save five or six large leaves for bottom of pan- discard any extremely tough or ragged leaves.
6
Drain all water from rice.
7
Add lamb, salt, pepper, and cinnamon.
8
Mix by hand thoroughly.
9
Line bottom of large kettle or dutch oven with five or six large leaves to prevent scorching.
10
Lay a leaf flat on a plate, shiny side down.
11
Put approximately 1 heaping teaspoon of meat mixture towards bottom of leaf.
12
Roll in one edge to seal, then roll leaf up firmly but not too tight (you need to leave a little room for the rice to expand while cooking).
13
Place leaves in kettle in circular fashion leaving a small circle in the center for water to circulate.
14
When you have one full row on bottom of pan, slice two cloves of garlic over the top of the leaves.
15
Sprinkle with a little of the mint.
16
Continue rolling the leaves and layering them with the garlic/ mint.
17
You should have approximately five rows of leaves when you are done.
18
Place a heatproof plate over the top of the leaves- large enough to hold them in place, but with a little room on the edges.
19
Put a bowl on top of the plate filled with water to hold the plate down while cooking.
20
Fill kettle with water over the top of the plate.
21
Cook on top of stove on high heat until it begins to boil.
22
Lower heat to medium so that water does not boil over and continue cooking.
23
Total cooking time after it starts to boil is 16-19 minutes.
24
Remove bowl.
25
Carefully drain water from kettle.
26
Remove plate.
27
Arrange leaves on a platter.
28
Serve with lemon wedges.

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Featured Reviews for This Recipe

From: Neneldae

On Feb 18, 2006

I liked this recipe. It is a bit of work but well worth it. I did use ground turkey instead and it altered the taste a bit but I liked it. Make sure to leave the rice in the water for At Least an hour or it will still be crunchy. I will be making this again!

1 person found this review helpful

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From: dancer123

On Mar 8, 2002

2 people found this review helpful

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From: Rose's Granddaughter

On May 24, 2005

This is very similiar to what I make. My grandmother is lebanese and I grew up learning how to make all sorts of wonderful middle eastern cuisine. The only thing I do differently is use white basmati rice - I get rave reviews from suspicious eaters when I use this rice. It is very important that you rinse the leaves individually or it will come out sour. Also you can subsitute the lamb for ground beef, don't try to make it "healthier" by using lean beef or ground turkey - it won't come out right. Serve with pita bread and hummus for the full effect. Other foods that go with it are falafels and tahini. I have some middle eastern recipes listed. See my reviews for more.

9 people found this review helpful

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