Stuffed Grape Leaves - Dolmades
Fun to make and fun to eat, these tender and flavorful beef-filled grape leaves do triple duty as an appetizer, a snack or as part of a main dish. And less than one net carb per roll, they fit into any low carb lifestyle.
Servings 10
Calories 215kcal
Equipment
- Large saute pan or skillet
- Large bowl
- hand mixer
- Cutting board and knife
- 9x13 inch baking pan (maybe another smaller pan, too!)
- aluminum foil
Ingredients
- 50 whole grape leaves (Mine were in a jar)
- 2 pounds lean ground beef (or ½ beef and ½ lamb)
- ½ medium onion finely chopped
- ½ fennel bulb finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon bacon drippings (or olive oil)
- 1 tablespoon fresh chopped dill (or 1 teaspoon dried)
- ¼ cup parsley finely chopped
- 3 whole prunes minced
- 2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil divided use
- 2 large eggs
- 2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper
- 1 ½ cups chicken broth
- 1 whole lemon
Instructions
Preparation
- Remove the grape leaves from the jar and rinse them by putting them in a large bowl with water and changing the water a few times. Chop the onion, fennel, garlic, parsley, dill (if using fresh) and prunes. Pour the chicken broth in a bowl, add 1 tablespoon olive oil and squeeze the lemon juice into it.
Method
- In a large pan over medium heat, saute the onion, fennel and garlic in the bacon drippings until softened and translucent. Turn off the heat and add the chopped parsley, dill, and prunes. Mix together and let sit in the pan.
- In a large bowl, break up the ground beef. Add salt, pepper, 1 tablespoon olive oil and eggs. Mix briefly with a hand mixer. Add the sauteed vegetables and mix thoroughly.
Rolling the Dolmades or Stuffed Grape Leaves
- Lay one grape leaf, shiny side down, on your work surface, with the top of the leaf pointing directly away from you. Place 1 tablespoon of the meat mixture on the bottom of the leaf. Elongate the filling just a bit and roll the leaf around it, rolling away from you, one turn.
- While holding the filling in place, tuck-in the sides like you would when rolling a burrito. Finish rolling the grape leaf around the filling, and place seam side down in a 9x13 baking dish.
- Continue rolling grape leaves around the filling until you run out of filling or grape leaves. I needed an extra baking dish because there were so many!
Cooking
- Pre-heat oven to 350 F and place rack in middle position. Add the last tablespoon of olive oil to the chicken broth and the juice of the lemon. Pour over the dolmades until it reaches half way up the sides of them. Cover the baking dish tightly with foil or a tight fitting lid. Cook for 45 minutes.
Storing
- Cover and refrigerate any leftover dolmades up to 5 days or freeze in an airtight container up to 3 months. Reheat a portion in the microwave for 1-2 minutes on high or cover with foil and warm in a 350F oven for 20-30 minutes. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating.
Makes 50 dolmades or stuffed grape leaves. Serving is 5 pieces with 4g NET CARBS PER SERVING.
Nutrition
Serving: 5dolmades | Sodium: 533mg | Calcium: 700mg | Vitamin C: 31mg | Vitamin A: 42600IU | Sugar: 2.6g | Fiber: 2g | Potassium: 123mg | Cholesterol: 94mg | Calories: 215kcal | Fat: 11.8g | Protein: 21g | Carbohydrates: 6g | Iron: 6.8mg