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Sour cherry vine leaves
Serves 4 Starters and mains
Ingredients
- 100g sour cherries (dried, frozen or tinned), pitted lemon
- 150ml olive oil
- 2tbsp pine nuts
- 4 onions
- 185g short-grain rice
- 1 tomato
- 1⁄2tsp cinnamon
- 1⁄2tsp allspice
- 1⁄2tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1tsp salt
- 1⁄2tsp sugar
- 5 stalks mint
- 2 stalks dill
- 30 vine leaves
Method
If using dried sour cherries, soak in warm water for 1 hour. If frozen, thaw for 30 minutes. If tinned, rinse to remove the syrup. Halve the sour cherries. Set aside. Zest and juice half of the lemon, and set aside.
If you are using fresh vine leaves, place them in a bowl, cover with boiling water, add 1tbsp of salt, and leave to soak for 10 minutes. If they are in brine, wash to remove the salt. Set aside.
Heat the olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Add the pine nuts and fry for 2 minutes. Slice the onions finely, add to the pan and cook for 5 minutes until soft. Wash the rice under cold running water, then add to onion mixture.
Grate the tomato into the rice, sauté for 2 minutes and then reduce the heat to a simmer.
Stir in the cherries, cinnamon, allspice, pepper, salt, lemon zest and sugar. Add 50ml of water and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat – the rice should be softened but still slightly crunchy.
Finely chop the mint and dill, add the lemon juice and combine with the rice mixture.
Pat the vine leaves dry with paper towel. Snip off any stems and, if the spine in the centre of the leaf is woody, soften it by crushing with the back of a knife. Put aside the five least attractive leaves.
Next, stuff the vine leaves. Put a leaf on a board, shiny side down. Put a strip of rice mixture in the middle of the vine leaf, fold over the base of the leaf, then fold over each long side and roll into a cigar shape, about 6cm long. Repeat to make about 25 stuffed vine leaves.
Place a bread and butter plate face side down in the bottom of a saucepan. Spread the five reserved vine leaves over the back of the plate. Arrange the stuffed leaves in a tightly packed spiral shape on top of the plate. Thinly slice the other lemon half and scatter over the vine leaves. Put another bread and butter plate on top. Add 250ml warm water and bring to the boil over medium heat. Reduce the heat and simmer, partly covered, for 30 minutes.
Remove from the heat, leave to cool and then serve, or keep in the fridge for up to 3 days.
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