Koupepia (Greek Traditional Dish)

INGREDIENT

50 vine leaves
100-150 grams minced pork
3 quarters cup olive oil
1 small onion minced
Parsley minced
1 quarter tea spoon pepper
Mint (optional)
1 cup rice
1 tsp1 tomato sauce or 2 cups tomato
1 - 2 tblsp lemon juice
1 cup warm water
1 tsp salt

 

METHOD

Wash the vine leaves and put them in warm water to get soft. The color will change and will go darker than they are.

Put the olive oil in a pan to warm and lightly cook the minced onion.

Add the minced ground pork and leave it to lightly cook.

Add the rice, pepper, parsley, mint, tomato sauce mixed in wate. Leave them to cook for 3-5 minutes and mix occasionally.

When the mixture cools, put one teaspoon of filling on each vine leave and wrap them up. Be careful as some leaves might be bigger or smaller than others so sometimes you might need to fill them with less or more than one teaspoon.

Put all the koupepias in a 4-quart pot. Place a small plate on top of them to keep them in place and add the water and lemon juice, or chicken stock if preferred.

Let them cook on low heat for about half an hour.

6 servings