Instructions

1. Rinse canned grape leaves under hot water for two or three minutes, then under cold water for two or three minutes. Dry the leaves with paper towels. Soak fresh leaves in 1 gallon of boiling water and 1 tablespoon of salt for five minutes. Rinse the leaves under cold water and dry them with paper towels.

2. Saute the aromatic ingredients for the filling. Minced garlic and onions are common in most grape-leaf dishes, but celery, leeks, pine nuts, peppers and ginger all work.

3. Add ground meat to the aromatics and cook until browned. You need about 1 tablespoon of ground meat per grape leaf.

4. Add the secondary ingredients such as tomatoes, eggplant, squash and fennel to the pan. Season to taste with kosher salt and spices.

5. Add uncooked white rice to the meat, then take the filling off the stove and let it reach room temperature. Drain the filling as needed if fat pools around it.

6. Lay the leaves shiny side down on a work surface. Drop about 1 tablespoon of filling in the center of each grape leaf. Fold the sides of the leaf over the filling and roll the leaf around the filling from bottom to top.

7. Arrange stuffed leaves seam-side down in the steamer insert; stack them if you need to. Bring a few inches of water to a boil in a pot and set the insert inside. If you want to cook the stuffed leaves in a sauce, line the pot with a layer of sliced tomatoes and stack them on top. Pour the sauce in the pot and cover. Set the heat on medium-low.

8. Cook the stuffed leaves until the rice cooks through, about 30 to 40 minutes in a steamer basket and about one hour in sauce. Add water to the sauce or pot as needed if it starts to dry during cooking.

9. Serve the leaves with a drizzle of olive oil and fresh herbs or a prepared sauce.