Memories of summer as a child always include sitting at a Greek restaurant eating dolmades – vine leaves stuffed with rice and herbs. Dipped in a mint yoghurt sauce. This year, travel is out of the question, but with the hot weather and lack of paid work sometimes it can feel a little like a holiday. This recipe for Dolmades With Lime Leaves is my way of reminding myself of summer holidays whist in a very sunny Surrey during Lockdown.
To really find this holiday feel I was thinking about how I could make my own dolmades. But I don’t have a vineyard next door…
Lime leaves (Tilia sp.) are one of the unsung heroes of the foraging world. They are one of the few leaves that taste good, even when full grown straight off the tree, and make a great base for a foraged salad. In this recipe I’m replacing the traditional vine leaves from dolmades with lime leaves, and don’t tell the Greeks but I think it might even improve the dish!
I’ve written a short bit about the Lime Tree (Tilia sp.) here.
Dolmades – With foraged ingredients
Ingredients
- 1 cup Rice
- 1/2 cup Olive oil
- 2 cups Water
- 2 Large fistfuls Water Mint (or any other mint) chopped finely
- 1 Large fistful Wild Marjoram or Oregano chopped finely
- 1 Handful Wild Fennel chopped finely, I’m not a big fan of the fennel flavour – add more if you like it
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 3 Tomatoes chopped
- 50-100 grams Lamb mince – optional
- 50 Lime leaves (Tilia sp.) look for large bright ones without any nibble marks on them
- 1 large Onion chopped
- 2 cloves Garlic – if you have wild garlic preserved this would be a good time to use it. crushed
Instructions
- Blanch the lime leaves in boiling water – quickly remove them and put into cold water.
- Quickly fry the lamb mince off if you are using it, in olive oil.
- Add more oil and sauté the onions and garlic too.
- Add the rice and the rest of the oil and fry on a gentle heat for a few minutes.
- Add a cup of water and simmer till its absorbed.
- Take off the heat.
- Stir in the cut herbs and chopped tomato. You can’t really overdo the herbs. I went for minimal fennel as I am not a big fan of the wild fennel flavour. If you like it add more.
- Now it is time to start rolling the domladas.
- Strain the lime leaves and dry them – I used a salad spinner.
- Lay one leaf out on a chopping board in front of you with stem facing towards you, tip away from you.
- Chop off the stem.
- Place one teaspoon of the mix in bottom 1/3 in the centre of the leaf.
- Fold in the sides, being careful to keep them parallel or folding tighter in towards the tip of the leaf.
- Roll up the bottom, keeping an eye on those sides not spreading out, and the mix staying in the roll.
- If you have added too much mix, you’ll know now, and just scrape it away.
- Continue to roll until you have run out of leaf.
- Pick up gently and put into a small pan with a tight fitting lid that can go in the oven.
- Continue this process with the rest of the leaves. Tightly packing them into the pan. If you finish one layer just lay another layer over the top.
- You will likely have some mix left over – store this in the fridge to make some more in a few days or stuff a pepper as well and put this in the pan too.
- Pour the second cup of water into the pan. Add a dash of oil for good measure.
- Cover with a tight fitting lid.
- Place in the oven at approx 160deg. Check on it in 30 minutes and see how the rice is doing. (I expect there will be a few escapees, and if not open up one parcel.) Remove from the oven when the rice is cooked, and leave to cool.
- Serve warm or at room temperature with a minty yoghurt sauce.
