Greek Roll Recipes

GREEK ROLL

Steps:

• Place 1 sheet of nori lengthwise on a bamboo mat, shiny-side down. Position the sheet about 1-inch from the side of the mat closest to you. Wet your hands in cool water and take a handful of sushi rice. Place the rice in the center of the nori and use your fingers to spread the rice evenly over it. Next place the roasted red peppers, olives, feta, and cucumber horizontally across the roll. Use the mat to roll up the sushi, pinching and squeezing the mat to shape it into a round cigar shape. Slice into 1-inch thick rolls with a sharp knife. Turn rolls onto their sides so the rice is facing upwards, and serve with the pickled ginger, wasabi and soy sauce.
• 3 cups water
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup short-grain sushi rice
• 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
• Place the water and salt in a medium sized saucepan and cover it with a tight-fitting lid. Bring the water to a boil. Add rice, return to a boil over medium heat, and then reduce heat to low and simmer. Once the water has evaporated from the rice, remove the pan from the heat. Stir in the rice vinegar and let cool before using.

GREEK DOLMADES RECIPE (STUFFED VINE/ GRAPE LEAVES DOLMATHES)

Steps:

• To make this traditional Greek dolmades recipe (stuffed vine/ grape leaves), start by preparing the vine leaves. For this dolmades recipe, you can either use vine leaves sold in jars or fresh (if you are lucky enough to find them). If you use the ones in jar, rinse the vine leaves, remove the stems and leave them in a colander to drain. If using fresh vine leaves, wash them thoroughly, remove the stems and blanch them in boiling hot water. Remove the leaves with a slotted spoon and place them in a colander to cool down completely.
• Prepare the filling for the stuffed vine/ grape leaves (dolmades). Place the rice in a colander and rinse with running water. Heat a large saucepan over medium heat, add 1/3 of the olive oil and the chopped onions. Sauté the onions, until translucent (but not coloured). Add the rice and sauté for 1 more minute. Pour in 2 cups of warm water and half lemon juice and simmer for about 7 minutes, until the rice absorbs all the water and is parboiled. Season with salt and pepper, stir in the herbs, remove from the stove and set aside to cool down for a while. This will be the filling for the dolmades.
• Layer the bottom of a large pot with some vine leaves (use the ones that are little bit torn) and start rolling the dolmadakia. (This is probably the most difficult part of the traditional dolmades recipe). Place one vine leaf (shiny side down) on a flat surface and add 1 tsp of the filling at the bottom end (stem). Be careful not to overfill the dolmades, as the rice will expand during cooking. Fold the lower section of the leaf over the filling towards the center; bring the two sides in towards the center and roll them up tightly. Place the stuffed vine leaves (fold side down) on the bottom of the pot and top in snugly layers. Be careful not to leave any gaps between the dolmades to prevent them from cracking open when cooking.
• Drizzle the stuffed vine leaves (dolmathes) with the rest of the olive oil and lemon juice and season with salt and pepper. Place an inverted plate on top to hold them down when cooking and pour in enough water just to cover them. Place the lid on and simmer the dolmades for about 30-40 minutes, until the water has been absorbed and the dolmades remain only with the oil.
• Remove the pot from the heat, remove the lid and plate and let the dolmades cool for at least 30 minutes.
• Serve this delicious Greek appetizer cold or at room temperature with a squeeze of a lemon. Give this traditional dolmades recipe a try and enjoy your own fresh homemade stuffed grape leaves (dolmades)!

TRADITIONAL GREEK STUFFED CABBAGE ROLLS (LAHANODOLMADES)

Steps:

• Prepare the rice mixture: Mix together the rice, ground beef, onion, spring onions, carrot, olive oil, parsley, dill, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for half an hour.
• Bring a large pot of water to a boil and stir in a teaspoon of salt.
• Remove the entire core of the cabbage using a sharp pairing knife. Immerse the cabbage in the boiling water, cored side down. The water should be almost to the top of the cabbage. Continue cooking over medium-low heat for about 15 minutes, or, until the leaves can be easily separated (Note: If you use Savoy cabbage the cooking time is much shorter, at just under 5 minutes). Using tongs, carefully remove each leaf from the pot, as soon as they become soft and flexible, and place them on a drainer to cool. Set aside and reserve any hard, torn, or very small leaves to line the bottom of your pot later.
• To assemble the cabbage rolls: place a cabbage leaf on a work surface. Place a tablespoon of the filling (the size of a walnut) near the bottom of the leaf. If necessary, cut into the leaf's stem (in a V shape) to remove the hard and thick spine. This will make them easier to roll. Fold the bottom end up and over the filling, then fold the two side ends of the cabbage leaf towards the center. Roll the leaf up to enclose the mixture, making sure not to roll it too tight because the rice filling will expand while it cooks. For the leaves that are a bit too small, you can overlap two of them to form a larger leaf before filling, or, you can also patch up any tears the leaves might have. For the leaves that are too large, cut them in half along the hard stem.
• To layer the cabbage rolls: line the bottom of the pot with those reserved leaves that were too hard or too small to fill. This will protect the stuffed cabbage rolls from over browning. Arrange the rolls seam side down in the pot. Make sure they are placed snuggly against each other so they do not move during cooking. Repeat with a second layer of rolls. Top with more of the leftover harder cabbage leaves, if you have them.
• To cook: Pour the stock and water over them, season with salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Cover the top of the stuffed cabbage rolls with an inverted, heatproof, shallow plate or bowl. The plate should be large enough that it covers the rolls, but small enough to not touch the sides of the pot. This will keep the rolls in place while cooking and will ensure that they cook properly. Reduce the heat to a medium-low and simmer for about 45-50 minutes. Check to make sure the rice is tender. Turn off the heat and uncover the pot.
• Make the avgolemono sauce: Whisk the eggs very well until frothy; for best results, use a hand-held mixer. Add the lemon juice and the cornstarch and whisk again. Start "tempering" the eggs by adding a ladle of hot liquid from the pot to the bowl while whisking constantly. Add one more ladle and whisk again until combined. Stir in the egg-lemon broth into the pot, shaking the pan to distribute evenly. Bring to a very gentle simmer over medium-low heat for just a minute or so, making sure it does not come to a boil. Remove from the heat. Taste and adjust the broth for seasoning.
• To serve: arrange the rolls on individual serving plates and then top them with the frothy hot sauce (do not drown them). Garnish with lemon slices, fresh dill and some freshly ground pepper.

LAHANODOLMATHES (GREEK CABBAGE ROLLS)

Steps:

• Combine the ground meats with the 3 tblsps olive oil, rice, onion, parlsey, celery, carrot, tomato paste, garlic and spearmint. Season with salt and pepper. Knead well to combine everything.
• Place cabbage in a large pot of boiling water and cover pot.
• When the outer leaves are blanched and softened, remove leaf by leaf, keeping the leaves whole, and place flat on a towel on work surface.
• Continue in this way, removing leaves as they become blanched and soft.
• Take some leaves that have not removed in one piece (the worse looking ones, or chop up some cabbage) and put in the bottom of a large pot.
• Take a cabbage leaf and place 2 tblsps of meat filling in the center.
• Fold both sides in and start rolling up, away from you, to make a cylinder, like an egg-roll or cigar. Do this rather loosely to allow for expansion of the meat and rice as it cooks. Lay these neatly in your pot, packing them in next to one another so they hold their shape.
• Continue rolling cabbage leaves until all your filling has been used up and/or you run out of leaves.
• Put more torn cabbage leaves or chopped up cabbage over the cabbage rolls.
• Pour over olive oil, add stock cubes and add enough hot water to just cover the cabbage rolls by ½".
• Weight the cabbage rolls with a plate and bring to the boil (the plate keeps the rolls from moving around too much as they cook, so that they don't unroll).
• Cook for just over an hour.
• Remove from heat.
• Carefully remove cabbage rolls to serving dish and make your sauce using the liquid remaining in pot.
• Beat the eggs with the corn flour and lemon juice.
• Very carefully and very slowly and whisking all the time, start to dribble the hot stock into the egg mixture. Keep doing this until you've added nearly all the stock. This tempers your eggs so that your sauce won't curdle.
• Pour the sauce back into the pot, and cook until the sauce just starts to simmer.
• Remove from heat and serve with the cabbage rolls coated generously with this sauce.
• Another recipe that goes so well eaten with nibbles of feta cheese and crusty bread (as all Greek recipes seem to).