Dolma Japrak

Stuffed vine leaves (Dolma Japrak) always remind me of the summer and has got to be one of the best recipe to have when the sun is shinning! These refreshing rolled vine leaves stuffed with minced lamb, onions, rice, herbs and seasonings are simmered until tender and delicious. ‘Dolma’ means stuffed vegetables and although grape vine leaves are most popular you can also stuff any form of Greens (Cabbage is most popular), Onions, Peppers, Aubergines, Squash, Tomatoes and Courgettes. Making this Albanian Japrak recipe out of season, vine leaves are often needed to be brought from Mediterranean food shops, so as a replacement try cabbage leaves – they are just as tasty. Ensure you let the whole cabbage sit in boiling water for 10 minutes before gently peeling back the leaves so they don’t break. You can boil stuffed leaves in a tomato based sauce too and I find that cabbage leaves work best for this.