Skip to main content

Lentil-Chestnut Stuffed Grape Leaves for #HandCraftedEdibles


In an effort to make all of my holiday gifts this year, we are sharing recipes for hand-crafted edibles. Over the course of twelve weeks, we'll be sharing recipes that you can make at home to give to friends and loved ones, or things to serve at holiday parties. We hope you'll follow along for inspiration. You can find out more information, including the schedule: here.

This week, we are "going nuts" and sharing all sorts of recipes with nuts. Think spiced nuts or nutty fruit cake or whatever floats your nutty boat!

Here's what we're posting this week...

Next week - week 10 - check back for our recipes to inspire you as we let our confectioner’s skills shine. Think truffles, barks, anything and everything with chocolate. Don't forget to check out our #handcraftededibles pinterest board.

Lentil-Chestnut Stuffed Grape Leaves

Stuffed grape leaves are a family favorite. I usually make them with whatever meat and whatever grain I have on hand. This I decided to make vegan, utilizing the meaty chestnuts that begin to appear in markets during the holiday season. Besides, it's one of my favorite Christmas carols...


Ingredients
  • 2 C cooked lentils (I used black lentils)
  • 1/2 C caramelized onions
  • 1/4 C chopped olives (or use an olive tapenade)
  • 1/2 C cooked chestnuts, peeled roasted and slightly smashed
  • freshly ground salt and pepper
  • handful of fresh parsley, roughly-chopped
  • 2 T fresh tomato sauce
  • organic lemon, thinly sliced
  • 2 T liquid (use wine, veggie broth, or water - I used Strega, a saffron liqueur)

Procedure
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. In a large mixing bowl, combine the lentils, caramelized onions, olive and chestnuts. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in the tomato sauce and fresh parsley.


Place a tablespoon of your filling in the center of a grape leaf. Keeping constant pressure, roll the grape leaf into a packet. Because my grape leaves were so small, I used two for each roll.

Arrange the rolls in a baking dish. Lay slices of lemon over the top.


Fill your pan with water so that the water comes to the top of the rolls. Add a splash of olive oil and your wine or liqueur. Lay grape leaves over the top.


Bake in a 375 degree F oven for 90 minutes, until the liquid is completely absorbed and the rolls are soft.


Serve with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice.

Comments

  1. oops I thought you were going to stuff these with the dukkah. We could use that instead of the chestnuts, couldn't we?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You certainly could...then I would add a little more liquid, maybe 1 T of tomato sauce...

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Quick Pickled Red Onions and Radishes

If you've been reading my blog for even a short amount of time, you probably know how much I love to pickle things. I was just telling a friend you can pickle - with vinegar - or you can ferment - with salt - for similar delicious effect. The latter has digestive benefits and I love to do that, but when I need that pop of sour flavor quickly, I whip up quick pickles that are ready in as little as a day or two. I've Pickled Blueberries , Pickled Asparagus , Pickled Cranberries , Pickled Pumpkin , and even Pickled Chard Stems ! This I did last night for an upcoming recipe challenge that requires I include radishes. Ummmm...of course I'm pickling them! Ingredients  makes 1 quart jar radishes, trimmed and sliced organic red onions, peeled and thinly sliced (I used a mandolin slicer) 3/4 C vinegar (I used white distilled vinegar) 3/4 C water 3 T organic granulated sugar 1 T salt (I used some grey sea salt) 6 to 8 grinds of black pepper Proce

Aloo Tiki {Pakistan}

To start off our Pakistani culinary adventure, I started us off with aloo tiki - potato cutlets. I'm always game for tasty street food. I found a couple of different recipes and incorporated those together for this version. Ingredients 6-8 small red potatoes, scrubbed 1 T cumin seeds 1 T fresh chopped parsley 1/2 t ground coriander 1 t minced garlic Procedure Boil the potatoes until they are tender. Drain and let cool. Mash the potatoes. Traditionally they are mashed without their skins. I left the skins on. In a small pan, toast the cumin seeds on high heat until the begin to give off an aroma and begin to darken. Remove from heat and transfer to a plate to keep them from cooking any more. Blend all of the spices into the mashed potatoes, then shape into small patties. If you wet your hands, the potato mixture won't stick to them. Heat a splash of oil in a large, flat-bottom pan. Dip each patty into beaten egg and carefully place in the oil. P

Hot Chocolate Agasajo-Style {Spice It Up!}

photo by D For my Spice It Up! kiddos this week, I was looking for an exotic drink to serve while we learned about saffron. I found a recipe from food historian Maricel Presilla that mimicked traditional Spanish hot chocolate from the 17th century where it was served at lavish receptions called agasajos . When I teach, I don't always get to shoot photos. Thankfully, D grabbed my camera and snapped a few. Ingredients serves 14-16 1 gallon organic whole milk 3 T dried rosebuds - or 2 t rosewater 2 t saffron threads, lightly crushed 3 T ground cinnamon 3 whole tepin chiles, crushed 2 vanilla beans, split lengthwise 1 C organic granulated sugar 1 lb. bittersweet chocolate Procedure In a large soup pot that can hold a gallon plus, combine milk, dried rosebuds (or rosewater, if you are using that), saffron threads, ground cinnamon, chiles, vanilla beans, and sugar and warm over medium heat till it steams. Whisk to dissolve sugar, then lower heat an