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overhead view of many vegetarian dolma rolls in a bowl and sprinkled with dill.
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5 from 1 vote

Vegetarian Dolma Recipe

Delicate vegetarian dolma recipe with a melt-in-your-mouth cheese and rice filling with lots of dill and parsley.
Prep Time1 hour
Cook Time1 hour
Total Time2 hours
Course: Vegetarian
Cuisine: Turkish
Diet: Vegetarian
Servings: 3 servings
Calories: 339kcal
Author: Adina

Ingredients

  • about 40 vine leaves from a jar See note
  • 125 g/ 4.4 oz/ ½ cup short grain rice
  • 1 bunch dill 20 g/ 0.7 oz leaves weighed after removing the stems
  • 1 bunch parsley 20 g/ 0.7 oz leaves weighed after removing the stems
  • 300 g/ 10.6 oz/ 2 cups ricotta
  • 150 g/ 5.3 oz/ 1 ¼ cup feta
  • 1 onion
  • vegetable broth Note
  • chili flakes or cayenne pepper to taste
  • fine sea salt and pepper generously and to taste

Instructions

Vine leaves:

  • Carefully, unroll the vine leaves if they are rolled in a small bundle together.
  • Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the vine leaves and simmer gently for about 3 or 4 minutes. Drain well and leave until cool enough to handle.

Filling:

  • In the meantime boil some water in a kettle. Place the rice in a heatproof bowl large enough to hold all the filling ingredients. Pour the boiling water over the rice and let stand for about 5 minutes. Drain well. Return the rice to the bowl.
  • Remove the stems from the herbs, make sure you have sufficient leaves for the filling (about 20g/ 0.7 oz fresh leaves from each bundle), and chop the herbs very finely. Chop the onion very finely as well.
  • Add the herbs and the onion to the rice. Add the ricotta and well-crumbled feta. Stir well until the mixture is creamy.
  • Spice the filling generously with chili flakes or cayenne pepper to taste and salt and pepper. Taste the filling and make sure it is well seasoned.

Rolls:

  • Place a vine leaf on the working surface. Add about 2 teaspoons of the ricotta filling (depending on the size of your leaf) in the middle-lower part of the leaf.
  • Fold the left and right sides of the leaf over the filling, then form a roll, starting to roll at the base of the parcel.
  • Place the roll with the seam facing down in a small cooking pot. Repeat until you have used all the filling, arranging the rolls nicely and tightly in the pot.
  • Heat the stock and pour it over the rolls, they should be barely covered with liquid.
  • Cover well, bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 1 hour. Check to see if the rice is soft, if not, continue cooking for 5 -10 minutes longer or until the rice is soft.

Notes

  1. You will have enough filling for 32-35 rolls. However, prepare more vine leaves than actually needed, some will break and some will be too small for filling. In such a case, use two leaves to obtain a larger filling surface or to cover any holes.
  2. Or chicken broth, if not cooking vegetarian. I prefer chicken stock, it has a stronger flavor.

Nutrition

Serving: 1/3 of the dish | Calories: 339kcal | Carbohydrates: 22g | Protein: 20g | Fat: 19g | Saturated Fat: 12g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 76mg | Sodium: 953mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 4g