crumbly stuffed vine leaves

Ingredients for 1 servings:

• 12 vine leaves, not too small, fresh
• 400 g tomatoes, chopped from the can
• 50 ml water
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp bulgur
• 50 ml water, hot
• 100 g mushrooms, fresh
• 1 clove(s) garlic
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• herbal salt
• Pepper, freshly ground

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 50 minutes; Total time approx. 1 hour 20 minutes

made from fresh vine leaves with an unusual filling and cooked in tomatoes

Boil the fresh vine leaves in a pot with plenty of water for 5 minutes, remove from the pot and let cool on a plate. Soak the bulgur in a small bowl with the hot water. Clean the mushrooms, chop them up a bit and chop them very finely, ideally in a food processor (chopper). Peel the garlic and finely dice it. Heat the olive oil in a small pot and sauté the garlic (it shouldn’t change color). Now add the mushrooms and simmer until the resulting liquid has almost evaporated. Add the bulgur and bring back to the boil and remove from the heat. Let this mixture swell for another 5 minutes. Season well with herb salt and pepper. Once it has cooled down a little, we can now stuff the vine leaves with it. Place a vine leaf on a board or plate with the ribs facing up (the stem should be completely removed), add 1 teaspoon of the bulgur mixture and roll it up tightly, from the base of the stalk to the tip of the leaf, tucking in the sides of the leaf to prevent the filling from slipping out. In a sufficiently large pot (so that all the rolls can lie next to each other), add the tomatoes and 50 ml of water, to which I add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and mix everything well. Place the vine leaves on top, press them lightly into the tomato mixture, and weigh them down with a plate. Bring to a boil and simmer over low heat for about 35-45 minutes. The extra water needs to be added to the tomatoes, as some of the liquid evaporates over time. I find they taste best cold.