Etli Yaprak Sarma ( Stuffed vineleaves with meat)

Etli Yaprak Sarmasi

(Stuffed vineleaves with meat)

Good day everyone! It's nice to be back again after those summer holiday hassles..tho it was fun, but I do miss my computer and most specially to all of you my readers. Once again am back here sharing recipes and giving out phototutorials for easy understanding of my recipes.  Let's begin now with my stuff vineleaves.

Ingredients:
250 gr. ground meat with little fat                  blanched fresh grape leaves
1 *teacup rice, washed and drained              or preserved vine leaves
1 tbsp. tomato paste
1 tbsp. red pepper paste
1 tbsp. dried mint
Salt, ground black pepper to taste
1 *teacup water
* please refer to my turkish measurement table.

Methods:

these are the ingredients..mix everything in a bowl except for the leaves.

mixed filling

the rough surface of the leaf must be the one facing you 
place a heaping spoon of filling onto the leaf

bring up the 2 down petals of the leaf

bring the 2 sides of the leaf to the center

roll up to seal.





Cooking the stuffed vine leaves:

In a casserole, I usually lay out my remaining vine leaves on the bottom, to prevent my stuff vineleaves from sticking at the bottom in case it runs out of water.

Arrange the stuff leaves side by side in circular layers.

Place weight on top of the last layer of stuff leaves, as shown in the picture, you can also use any ceramic plate in a reverse way, to ensure that the stuffed leaves will not move around while cooking.
Pour around 2 glasses of hot water, just covering the leaves, pour in 1 teacup of olive oil too. Olive oil adds the shiny look in the end product.
Simmer for 40 minutes in a low heat, or until rice is cook.

Serve with lemon wedges or with yogurt. Enjoy!