Cyprus Style Dolmathes
This recipe was taught to me by a lady from Cyprus. She made hers with lamb and beef and they were considered a meal rather than just an appetizer. I make them vegetarian most of the time, but making them with meat is VERY delicious!
Servings 40 dolmas
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground lamb
- 1 lb ground beef 90/10 (OR use all lamb)
- 1 lg onion, small dice about 3/4 cup
- 3 cloves garlic, minced about 1.5 Tbl
- 2 tsp EACH S/P
- 1 cup prepared rice basmati is my go-to, make sure to season with S/P
- 1 14oz can tomatoes, any type drained
- 1/2 cup fresh mint, finely chopped sub dry 3 Tbl, but fresh is best
- 1 jar grape leaves, rinsed and separated most groceries have these in the ethnic aisle
- 1 pkg lamb neck bones or shoulder chops about 1# or less
- 1 8oz can tomato sauce
- 2 lemons, zest and juice sub 1/3 cup jarred juice, but fresh is best
- chicken stock as needed (have 2 cups or so on hand)
- EVOO as needed
- plain Greek yogurt
- lemon wedges for serving
Instructions
- There is a lot of prep for these. Assemble all your ingredients and take it step by step.
- Prepare rice by package directions to yield about 1 cup and set aside. You can alter the rice to meat ratio here if you like. If you double the rice, you'll double the number of dolmas you make, keep that in mind.
- In a large skillet over med hi heat, sauté lamb and beef with onions and garlic for about 8 minutes. It will be mostly cooked, but a little pink still. Season to taste with S/P - go a little salty here. The second cook will take out some salt.
- Off heat, add tomatoes, lemon zest and mint to meat mixture, combine thoroughly. Set aside while you prepare the grape leaves.
- In a large stock pot, arrange lamb bones or chops in the bottom.
- Rinse and separate grape leaves. You may skip rinsing if you like the briny taste like I do.
- Lay the leaf on the board with the stem UP, at the bottom. Trim stem if it's long. Put about 1 Tbl of filling at stem - do not overfill. Tuck in side leaves and roll like a burrito. (vegetarian filling shown)
- This recipe will make about 40 dolmathes, it depends on the leaves. Stack them seam side down, tightly in the stock pot on top of the lamb chops as you make them and drizzle each layer with EVOO. You should get a big pot of dolmathes from this recipe. Do not fill the pot over 3/4 full. If you have too many, either do two pots or freeze the extras.
- Once the dolmas are made and in the pot, drizzle with a little more EVOO, then pour over the tomato sauce and lemon juice. Top with chicken stock to reach about 3/4 up on the dolmas.
- Weigh down the dolmas with a plate and cook over med low for about 45 minutes.
- Serve with Greek yogurt, EVOO and lemon wedges.
Notes
While labour intensive, dolmathes are truly worth it. I like them both vegetarian (Turkish) and with meat (Greek/Cypriot).
Dolmathes freeze well!