Lebanese Favorite Cold Mezze – Stuffed Vine Leaves Recipe

If you ask any person who had the chance to visit the Middle East, which restaurant you liked the most? More than 80% would say Lebanese Restaurants.

What makes Lebanese restaurants any different than other Middle Eastern restaurants?

Lebanese are famous for their very wide range of cold and hot mezze (Arabic for Appetizers). And to have the best of the best, I would recommend to try a Lebanese Restaurant in the mountains where they get their ingredients fresh from the land. Some restaurants even hire housewives to do the cooking, which makes the meal warmer and made with motherly love.

A Typical Lebanese Lunch would include Fattoush, Tabbouleh, Rocca Salad, Hommos, Baba Ghannouj, Hendebh B zet, Kebbeh Nayye (Assorted dish of Raw Meat), Labneh, Vine Leaves, Potatoes with Coriander, Fried Kebbeh, Sojouk, Makanek, Sambousek, Beatroots and much more. Lebanese favourite drink with such a feast in Arak (known as Raki).

Lebanese may get together and spend hours nibbling on mezze, drinking, singing, and dancing their Sundays away. They may do that for so long that they would totally forget about getting to the main dish which, of course, would be Mixed Grill. I do miss those vibes!

So if you ever visited my beloved country Lebanon, I would recommend:

1- Mounir Restaurant

2- Shallalat Al Barouk

3- Tawlet Ammiq or Tawlet Al Shouf – This restaurant serves Weekly Sunday Brunches cooked by housewives in the village. A truly authentic and unique experience.

4- Ixsir Winery – Sunday Brunch with an amazing view and a nice bottle of wine. My kind of Sunday!’

So, for this week I will be sharing the Cold Vine Leaves Appetiser for you to enjoy in the next family gathering you host!

Ingredients:

- 1 large jar of canned vine leaves / if you have a vine in your backyard, you can always get fresh ones and boil them in water and salt prior prepping the stuffing

- 2 Medium White Onions

- 2 cups of Egyptian rice soaked in water

- 2 cups of chopped parsely

- 1/2 cup cup of chopped mint

- 6 to 7 chopped spring onions

- 4 tomatoes chopped

- 1 red bell pepper chopped

- 1 tablespoon salt

- 1 tablespoon Lemon salt

- 1/2 cup of Lemon Juice

- 1 cup of olive oil

- 1/2 cup of pomegranate molasses

Directions:

- To prepare the stuffing, add the rice to all fresh chopped veggies, add the seasoning (salt, lemon salt, lemon juice, olive oil and pomegranate molasses).

- Mix the stuffing well with the seasoning, then leave the stuffing drain in a colander for 30 minutes. Place a deep plate below the colander to collect that yummy sauce from the stuffing.

- Prepare a plate and place on it one vine leaf, make sure to remove the stem of the leaf. And the shiny side of the vine leaf should be faced toward the plate.

- Place one spoon of the drained stuffing in the center of the vine leaf as shown below.

- I have marked in the picture below the sides and bottom of the leaf.

- You start my taking the bottom of the leaf and fold them up, then you folder the sides towards in. Then you start rolling the vine leaf toward the end of the leaf making sure that all free ends of the leaf are well tucked in.

- Repeat till all the vines leaves are rolled.

- Tip: you have finished and still have stuffing, stuff them in bell pepper. When stuffing a bell pepper, place the stem on after you finish the stuffing.

- Peel the onions leaving the stem on. then put it in pot with boiling water. Bring it into a boil for 30 minutes. Then remove it to cool down.

- Insert a knife into the cooked onions, then start peeling the onion layer by layer.

- Grab a layer of the onion, place it onto your palm, then add 1 tbsp of the stuffing and roll it.

- Repeat till you have finished all the onion layers or you are out of stuffing.

- Inside a pot, our 1/4 cup of olive oil, place some peeled whole potatoes, onions, sprinkle some salt and lemon salt on it, then start placing the vine leaves next to each other, then create layers as shown in the picture below. Place the Onions in the center top of the pot so they don't get smashed.

- Remember the sauce drained from the stuffing, its time to add it to the pot.

- Place a plate on top of the leaves and you need to add weight on it so that the leaves doesn't flow while cooking. So what I normally do is fill half a tea pot with a water and place it on top of the plate.

- Add two cup on water into the pot. This will be enough to cook the leaves since the stuffing and the vegetables will generate water while cooking.

- Place the pot on a medium heat, Once it starts boiling, lower the heat, wait for minutes the remove the tea pot, cover the pot and let it cook for 45 minutes.

- Try one vine leaf and see if it cooked. If not, leave it for extra 10 minutes. (It all depends on your oven, cooker and how efficient it is).

- Tip: You dont have to wait till the water is evaporated to check the vines leaves. Once cooked, turn off the cooker even if the water remains in the pot.

- Once the vines leaves are cooked, Leave it to cool. What I recommend to do, is to leave the pot as it is cool overnight, this will allow the vine leaves and stuffed vegetables to absorb the sauce you added in the beginning.

- Next day, Open up that pot, Remove the stuffed vegetables first, then you can flip that pot in a plate.

And Bon Appétit!

Recipe Cooking Video