Stuffed Grape Leaves
Ingredients
1 (1 lb.) jar grape leaves (about 40 large or 60 small leaves)
Stuffing:
¼ cup olive or vegetable oil
2 large onions, chopped
¼ to ½ cup pine nuts (optional)
1½ cups raw rice, rinsed
3 cups water
4 plum tomatoes (1 lb.)
½ cup chopped fresh parsley
About 1¼ teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon sugar
½ teaspoon ground pepper
¼ to 1 cup dried currants (optional)
Sauce:
About 2 cups water
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 whole cloves garlic
1 to 2 teaspoons sugar
About 1 teaspoon salt
Method
Stuffing:
Peel, seed, and chop tomatoes. Set aside.
Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onions and sauté until soft and translucent, 5 to 10 minutes. If desired, add the pine nuts and sauté until golden.
Add the rice and sauté until well coated, 3 to 5 minutes.
Stir in the water, tomatoes, parsley, salt, sugar, pepper, and, if desired, currants. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce the heat to low, and simmer until the liquid is absorbed, about 20 minutes. Let cool.
If using preserved leaves: unroll, rinse under cold water, then soak in cold water to cover for 15 minutes.
If using fresh grape leaves: blanch in boiling lightly salted water for about 5 minutes. Drain and pat dry. Carefully cut off the stems. Place the leaves on a flat surface, shiny side down and vein side up.
On large leaves place about 1 Tablespoon stuffing and on smaller leaves a heaping teaspoon near the stem end. Carefully fold the leaf from the stem end to cover the filling. Fold the sides over, then roll up the leaf to make a neat package.
Cover the bottom of a baking dish or heavy pot with any extra leaves. Arrange the rolls, seam side down, in layers in the prepared dish.
To Make the Sauce:
Combine the water, lemon juice, oil, garlic, sugar, and salt and pour over the stuffed grape leaves to cover. Weigh down the rolls with a heavy plate.
Cover the pot, bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low, and simmer until tender, about 1 hour. Let cool.
Serve at room temperature or chilled.