Stuffed vineleaves and zucchini (Dolmadakia kai kolokythakia gemista)

This vegetarian dish originates from the district of Macedonia in Greece and it belongs to the "ladera" category of dishes. That is, food cooked until all the juices have evaporated and there is only some olive oil left in the pot.
"Ladera" compose a whole school of thought in Greek cuisine, being the main solution during our long fasting seasons when even fish is forbidden most of the days. Moreover they play the major role in the Mediterranean diet, making great use of  vegetables, legumes and olive oil.
If we were in Italy, we cood call it "cucina povera" since it needs only some rice and what it can be found in your vegetable garden this season.If you don't have a garden, you can find everything at your greengrocer's or your supermarket. Vineleaves are also sold in jars, preserved in brine.

It can also be tranformed to a more rich dish if you add beef/lamb mince in the rice stuffing and some egg-lemon sauce in the end. But this is only a matter of taste.

As I said the ingredients are mainly found in our garden:

- 350 grams vine leaves (fresh or in a jar)
- 1 kilo of zucchini, big enough to be stuffed (see the picture above)
- 500 grams spring onions, chopped
- 1 dry onion, diced
- 1 bunch of dill, chopped
- 1 tablespoon dry mint or 2-3 sprigs of fresh mint, chopped
- 500 grams of olive oil (2 large water glasses filled)
- 500 grams of rice (risoto type)
- the juice of 5 lemons
- (optionally) some tomato juice, fresh or canned
- salt & pepper

If you have fresh vine leaves, you must wash them thoroughly and blanch them in a pot with some water, salt and the juice of half a lemon. Take them off the boiling water and let them cool on a plate until you prepare the stuffing. If you use leaves from a jar, you must also wash them because they are preserved in brine and this makes them extra salty.

Grate the zucchini from the outside, then cut them in the middle and hollow them (just like toy boats) with a small spoon or the special gadget we also use for fruit salads. Keep the stuff from inside in a bowl.

In a deep frying  pan add the dry onion, the spring onions, the dill and the mint, salt and pepper and half a cup of water. Let them simmer for five minutes and take the pan off the heat. Now add half the olive oil, half the inside of the zucchini finely chopped, the rice, salt and pepper and the juice of the other half of the lemon. Stir well and the stuffing is ready.

Put a layer of vine leaves at the bottom of your cooking pot. Take each zucchini boat and fill it with 3-4 teaspoons of the rice stuffing. Put them in the cooking pot in rows, next to each other.

Lay flat a vine leaf on your kitchen board and put a tablespoon of stuffing in its middle. Fold the sides of the leaf so as to form a small cylinder and the stuffing is secured inside. (You can see how to do it in the sketch).

 Put it in the cooking pot over the stuffed zucchini. Continue until all the leaves are stuffed and in very tight rows in the pot. Try not to leave gaps between them or they will open and the stuffing will pur out.

Add the rest of the olive oil in the pot, the juice of 2 lemons and enough water to cover the food. Take an old dish and put it upside down in the pot over the vineleaves. This will serve as a weight to prevent them from opening. Simmer for about 30 - 45 minutes. During the cooking time we can add the tomato juice and some hot water if the liquid is absorbed.

Let them cool totally and then serve on a plate, putting the zucchini in the middle and the dolmadakia around them. Serve with some plain yoghurt or tzatziki if you like but feta cheese is essential to all lathera dishes.

Kali orexi!

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