Stuffed Grape Leaf Dolmades

Wonderful flavor and boy did this ever make my kitchen smell terrific.

This was my first time stuffing grape leaves. The filling comes together quickly (I used the suggested apricots, soaked in retsina, and lamb), and I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to wrap the grape leaves.

Finding a pan where I could weigh down the stuffed leaves was a bit of a challenge, but after an hour the rice was cooked and the filling was amazing.

I have to say that the grape leaves were tough, and I mostly unwrapped mine, ate the filling, and tossed the leaves. Any advice out there for getting tender leaves?

Another great use of Arborio rice. I liked that the filling consisted of uncooked rice, meat, onions, dried fruit etc. It mixed up quickly, but such a small amount was used in each leaf that it was easy to stuff each leaf, but took a long time. The directions worked perfectly for cooking the stuffed grape leaves. I used ground pork because I had the exact amount needed on hand. The dried mango that I substituted for apricot gave a sweet burst of flavor even without pre-soaking it in wine. I have cooked a lot of stuffed grape leaves, but this recipe is now my favorite both to cook and to eat.