Lebanese Stuffed Grape Leaves

Ingredients

• Stuffing

• 1 pound ground beef
• 3/4 cup uncooked Minute rice
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 2 teaspoons allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

• 100 grape leaves*
• 2 cans (26.46 ounces each) diced or stewed tomatoes
• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• 1/2 cup olive oil

Instructions

1. With your hands thoroughly mix ground beef, Minute Rice, garlic powder, allspice, salt and cinnamon in a medium bowl. This amount should fill about 75 grape leaves. If you’re cooking for a large Lebanese family you’ll want to triple this, open up a bottle of wine and ask a friend to help.
2. In a production line fashion lay as many grape leaves as you can on a flat surface with the front smooth side down. Place 1-2T of the stuffing on each grape leaf where the stem meets the leaf. Now, fold that area over the stuffing and then the very bottom over that. Hold this firmly in your fingers and begin to roll as tightly as you can, this will improve the more you roll. Place each roll flap side down on the tomatoes and repeat. Pack each layer in as tightly as you can to prevent unrolling. It takes me about 1 hour to roll 75 grape leaves and I’ve done it a lot so sit back and enjoy the process.
3. Line a pot with ½ can of tomatoes with the juice and a layer of the unrolled grape leaves laid flat. Put a single layer of the stuffed grape leaves down, sprinkle with some lemon juice and olive oil and cover with unrolled grape leaves laid flat and a few tomatoes with the juice from the can. Keep repeating in this fashion. When you’re done with layers of stuffed grape leaves sprinkle again with the olive oil and lemon juice, cover with flat grape leaves and dump the rest of the stewed tomatoes over it. Now you lay an oven proof plate over this, upside down might be best – whatever fits in the pan. Put a lid or aluminum foil snugly over the pot. Put them in the oven at 325 for 2 hours. Let cool before you handle them. They hold up in the refrigerator for a week. I like serving them at room temperature or warmed.

Notes