Dolmades - Involtini di foglie di vite ripieni di riso

Often the world wonders: who actually came up with that? Who, one day, decided that this would be a good idea? Who first thought of combining these things in such a way that the thing that would come out of that combination would be so much better than its original components? Well, world, wonder no more. For more often than not, the ones to come up with it were Divine Cherry and Celestial Dragon. Granted, it is a bold claim to make, but keep in mind that this is a story and that in stories everything is possible. Just like a Hollywood movie. I mean come on, who - apart from the person in question - does a thumb up when he is gently lowered in molten iron?
Anyway, in a time when European civilisations still knew the true meaning of democracy, when many-headed water snakes lived in caves (on land!), and when bull-shaped men jumped on everything that entered their ghetto (called labyrinths at the time), Divine Cherry and Celestial Dragon were having a heated discussion with Midas. It is a little known fact that King Midas was actually a very capable philosopher: he was the one who coined the phrase "don't touch your food with your hands". He also invented the fork. Be that as it may, the three of them were arguing on the possible outcome of a crossbreed between flavoured rice and sticky vine leaves. Our heroes said that it would be "bloody fantastic", while King Midas maintained that it was a "bloody stupid idea". Well, here's the outcome of that discussion: decide for yourselves.

Recipe adapted from Vefa's Kitchen
Ingredients:
-100g of vine leaves in brine
-120g of parboiled rice
-a handful of chopped parsil
-half a finely chopped onion
-1tbsp of lemon juice
-200g of boiling water
-1tsp of sultanas (optional)
-1tsp of pine nuts (optional)

Rinse the vine leaves under running water, the boil them for a couple of minutes. Drain them and carefully place them on the clean working space. Take some of the leaves cover the base of a thick pan with them. In a bowl, mix the raw rice, the finely chopped onion, the parsley, the sultanas and the pine nuts, add plenty of olive oil (extra virgin), as well as a bit of salt and pepper.
Now take the remaining vine leaves and put them on a working space with the smooth side underneath. Take a spoonful of filling and put it on the largest part of the leaf, then roll the leaf up until it covers the filling, fold in the sides, then fold them over the filling and continue to roll the leaf up until the end.
Do that with each leaf, or until you run out of filling. Or of leaves. Whatever happens first.
Now put all the roll-up leaves in the pan (the one with the other leaves in it) in concentric circles, making sure to leave as little space between each dolmades as possible. Cover with the 200g of boiling water, a generous helping of olive oil and the lemon juice. Place a dessert dish on the roll-up leaves in order to avoid them opening during the cooking process, cover the pan and bring to the boil. Cook for another 30mins as soon as it boils. Enjoy.

Ricetta adattata da Vefa's Kitchen
Ingredienti:
-100 g foglie di vite in salamoia
-120 g riso parboiled
-una manciata di prezzemolo tritato
-mezza cipolla tritata finemente
-1 cucchiaio di succo di limone
-un cucchiaio di uvette (facoltativo)
-un cucchiaio di pinoli (facoltativo)
-200 g acqua bollente

Sciacquare le foglie di vite sotto l'acqua corrente. Bollirle per un paio di minuti. Scolare le foglie di vite e stenderle con attenzione sul piano di lavoro.
Prendere una parte delle foglie e foderare una pentola capiente dal fondo spesso, cosi facendo gli involtini non si bruceranno.
In una ciotola a parte mescolare il riso crudo, la cipolla tritata, il prezzemolo, l'uvetta e i pinoli, irrorare con abbondante olio di oliva, salare e pepare.
Prendere le rimanenti foglie di vite una alla volta e adagiarle sul piano di lavoro con la parte liscia di sotto, mettere un cucchiaino di ripieno al centro della foglia nella parte piu' larga, arrotolare fino a coprire il ripieno, chiudere i due lati: ripiegando i bordi laterali sul ripieno stesso e continuare ad arrotolare fino alla fine.
Continuare cosi fino ad esaurimento degli ingredienti. Porre gli involtini nella pentola forderata, disponendoli in cerchi concentrici senza lasciare spazi vuoti. Coprire con 200g d'acqua bollente, un giro abbondante di olio di oiliva e un cucchiao di succo di limone. Appoggiare un piattino sugli involtini in modo che non si aprano in cottura, coprire la pentola con il coperchio e portare a ebollizione. Cuocere per 30 minuti dall'ebollizione.


Enjoy,
And Spread the Mess