Stuffed vine leaves a la Günsel

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 500 g lean minced beef
• 400 g rice, uncooked
• 2 m.-sized onion(s)
• 1 bunch of parsley
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• Thyme, Pul Biber, pepper, salt, sweet paprika powder
• 4 tbsp olive oil or sunflower oil
• 500 g vine leaves (vacuum packed – not from a can)
• 2 tbsp margarine
• 1 lemon(s), untreated

Instructions

Working time approx. 40 minutes; Total time approx. 40 minutes

Turkish recipe from mother-in-law

Place the vine leaves in a bowl, pour boiling water over them, and let stand for about 30 minutes. In the meantime, finely dice the onions and mix them with the minced meat, rice, finely chopped parsley, tomato paste, oil, and seasoning (to taste) until well combined. Discard any damaged or torn vine leaves, snip off the stems at the base, and roll up the minced meat and rice mixture. Don’t roll too tightly, as the rice will still swell. Layer the vine leaves seam-down in a large pot, placing 2-3 thin slices of lemon between each layer. Spread the 2 tablespoons of margarine on the top layer. Pour about 500 ml of boiling water over them, place a plate on top to weigh them down, and simmer over low heat for 50 minutes, up to 1 hour. Yogurt with garlic goes very well with this as a dip.