Dolmathes with Avgolemono Recipe
Top Chef 2 contender Marisa Churchill learned a lot from her yaya, including how to make dolmathes with avgolemono, a lemony egg sauce (and often a soup) common in Greek cuisine. Marisa’s yaya makes the sauce a little eggier than our version, but since it takes the expertise and careful hand of an experienced yaya not to curdle it, we’ve added a little extra liquid, which is common.
What to buy: Grape leaves can be found in jars in many gourmet and specialty stores.
This recipe was featured as part of our Greek Easter Celebration menu.
For the dolmathes:
- 60 grape leaves, fresh or jarred
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1/2 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
- 1/2 cup white rice, such as jasmine or basmati
- 6 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/4 cup chopped Italian parsley
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh mint
- 4 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
For the avgolemono:
- 3 large eggs
- 1/4 cup lemon juice (from 2 medium lemons)
- 1 cup hot reserved cooking liquid from the dolmathes
- If using fresh grape leaves, prepare an ice water bath by filling a bowl halfway with ice and water and set aside. Bring a medium pot of water to a rolling boil over high heat, add grape leaves, and cook until leaves are tender but still hold their shape, about 5 to 10 minutes (depending upon the size of the leaves). Remove grape leaves from the water and submerge them in the ice water bath. Drain.
- If using jarred grape leaves, place leaves in a strainer and discard the liquid. Carefully separate the leaves, rinse with cold water, and let drain.
- Meanwhile, combine beef, onion, rice, 4 tablespoons of the olive oil, parsley, mint, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl and mix until thoroughly combined.
- Lay out one grape leaf and remove the tough stem. Place about 1 tablespoon (or less, depending upon the size of the leaf) of filling in the center.
- Carefully fold the top and sides of the leaf over the filling.
- Roll tightly into a cylinder (it should look like a miniature football) and place in a large saucepan.
- Repeat with remaining leaves and filling, arranging dolmathes side by side until the bottom of the pan is completely covered. Continue layering dolmathes until they are all in the pan.
- Place chicken broth in a small saucepan and bring just to a boil over medium-high heat. Pour broth over dolmathes, along with remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, about 6 minutes. Reduce heat to low and simmer until rice and beef are cooked though, about 20 minutes. Remove dolmathes to a serving platter. Strain and measure remaining cooking liquid, reserving 1 cup to make the avgolemono sauce. Cover dolmathes loosely with foil to keep warm. Wipe out the saucepan used to cook the dolmathes and set aside.
For the avgolemono:
- In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat eggs on high until they are light yellow and foamy, about 2 minutes.
- Add lemon juice in a steady stream and continue beating for 1 minute more.
- Add reserved dolmathes cooking liquid in a steady stream and whip for 1 minute to incorporate.
- Pour sauce into the saucepan used to cook the dolmathes. Heat, whisking constantly, over low heat until sauce is steaming (do not let it come to a boil), about 3 minutes. Season with salt to taste.
- Discard any liquid that has accumulated on the platter of dolmathes. Pour sauce over warm dolmathes or serve on the side.
Beverage pairing: Boutari Moschofilero, Greece. The grape Moschofilero is a mouthful to say, but the wine it makes is as light, clean, and fresh as the word is heavy. Its citric flavors are perfect for the lemony dolmathes, and it has a lovely floral perfume that will play nicely with the grape-leaf wrappers, parsley, and mint.
Do I cook the meat and rice or just stir it together raw!?! I don't want to make my guests sick tonight! Thank you!
I make these Egyptian-style and they can be made with a multitude of seasoning combinations plus a garlic yogurt sauce or a tahini sauce instead of avgolemeno. Re Veggie version: You can double the rice and add a half cup of almonds or other nuts to replace the meat.
Much better with dill rather than mint. Much better compliment to the avgolemono. Also use some of the brine from the leaves instead of just water when cooking.
really the mint is totally unnecessary in this recipe and does not suit the avgolemono at all. also the avgolemono should begin with a good roux. an avgolemono sauce is thick. this isn't a soup for goodness sake.
Is there a vegetarian version of these?
I like dolmades for easy finger food--does the sauce turn them into fork food? thinking of these on a cocktail party buffet.
what size and shape pot do you use? I've always used a fairly deep covered stoneware casserole.
I've had some great dolmas from the Los Olivos Grocery in LO, CA; they use a rice and pine-nut filling, with a nutty olive oil. Delicious!
In Turkish version (my mom's and grnadma's style) use any rice that is similar to arborio in grain size but less stracy type, what we call is BALDO rice. Add choped parsley, black pepper and cumin(as desired) into the ingredients. You may add any fresh herbs to create your own taste, the original is parsley. Add finely cohpped tomatoes as well.
We normally do not use with egg-lemon sauce,...+READ
In Turkish version (my mom's and grnadma's style) use any rice that is similar to arborio in grain size but less stracy type, what we call is BALDO rice. Add choped parsley, black pepper and cumin(as desired) into the ingredients. You may add any fresh herbs to create your own taste, the original is parsley. Add finely cohpped tomatoes as well.
We normally do not use with egg-lemon sauce, instead we put garlic yogurth sauce on top right before serving. To make that sauce, whisk 250gr natural yougurt with salt and finely pureed garlic (2 gloves).
As said by other friends above there are numerious versions around Middle East and Greece, especially in Turkish cusine.
The word "dolma" in Turkish means "stuffed" as this comes from verb "dolmak" which is "to stuff".
This recipe may be used to stuff zucchini, aubergine, tomatoes, large green/yellow/red peppers, chard leaves, collard leaves etc.
Afiyet olsun (Bon Appetite)-COLLAPSE
I make these on special occasions - my husbands' grandfather was from Sparta - he made a masterpiece of his recipes. When he showed me how to make them (and I must say the recipe you have is almost identical) he would remove the pot of dolmades (sp?) from the burner and let them sit till still warm, not Hot. While waiting, he would whip up the lemon sauce. But it was about 2x what you have shown...+READ
I make these on special occasions - my husbands' grandfather was from Sparta - he made a masterpiece of his recipes. When he showed me how to make them (and I must say the recipe you have is almost identical) he would remove the pot of dolmades (sp?) from the burner and let them sit till still warm, not Hot. While waiting, he would whip up the lemon sauce. But it was about 2x what you have shown - double it. Also, the liquid shouldn't be too warm. When finished, just pour over the dolmades in the pot. Gently shake the pot around every couple minutes or so for about 5-10 minutes. This will thicken and 'cook' the sauce and turn it into a velvety covering for the dolmades. Try it.-COLLAPSE
My mom would use a medium grain rice from Goya, a Latino food brand which was available at the time in NY. I'm sure it's still around. She found it to be the most appropriate replacement for what she used to use in Greece. I think risotto rice might be too starchy, but I don't know for sure. Now that I live in Europe, I see that there are many kinds of risotto rice.
Yiasas paidia! I am not Greek but I married Greek. Nevertheless I never remembered eating dolmadakia (the stuffed grape leaves) with meat but only the stuffed cabbage leaves ( Laxano Dolmades). The thing that I would like to comment on is using jasmine or basmati rice. My mother-in-law is an excellent cook with an Asia Minor background. When I would try to replicate her dishes at home I failed to...+READ
Yiasas paidia! I am not Greek but I married Greek. Nevertheless I never remembered eating dolmadakia (the stuffed grape leaves) with meat but only the stuffed cabbage leaves ( Laxano Dolmades). The thing that I would like to comment on is using jasmine or basmati rice. My mother-in-law is an excellent cook with an Asia Minor background. When I would try to replicate her dishes at home I failed to do a great job until I took note of what kind of rice she was using. In Greece it is called Carolina rice. It is definitely not a long grain rice. I think in the U.S. it would be called Risotto rice. Try it but the cooking time and liquid might need adjustment. Kali Oreksi !-COLLAPSE
We use Swiss Char instead of grape leaves. Not as chewy :) But still so delicious!!
One more thing, I tend not to boil the jarred leaves just rinse them as they're usually already really tender, the extra boiling makes them fall apart.
I always make a vegetarian version, you can just leave out the meat. Aglaia Kremezi's book "The Foods of Greece" has a wonderful recipe that also includes pine nuts, fava beans, as well as dill without the avglomeno sauce. When you don't use the sauce, you add lemon juice to the broth or water that the dolma boil in. They're lovely and they keep really well and great straight out of the fridge in...+READ
I always make a vegetarian version, you can just leave out the meat. Aglaia Kremezi's book "The Foods of Greece" has a wonderful recipe that also includes pine nuts, fava beans, as well as dill without the avglomeno sauce. When you don't use the sauce, you add lemon juice to the broth or water that the dolma boil in. They're lovely and they keep really well and great straight out of the fridge in the summer.-COLLAPSE
thanks!
another uncommom lenten version is grape leaves stuffed with rice and lentils cooked in a tomato broth (totally veg).
Hi eamelia. The greeks use the turkish name "yalanci" for these, but spell it: "yalantzi". I am attaching a greek link:
http://www.vegan-food.net/recipe/292/Yalantzi-Dolmathes/
and a turkish cypriot link:
http://www.cypnet.co.uk/ncyprus/culture/cuisine/veg/dolma-yalanci.html
If you do a search, the different spellings will take you to either greek or turkish recipe pages and then you...+READ
Hi eamelia. The greeks use the turkish name "yalanci" for these, but spell it: "yalantzi". I am attaching a greek link:
http://www.vegan-food.net/recipe/292/Yalantzi-Dolmathes/
and a turkish cypriot link:
http://www.cypnet.co.uk/ncyprus/culture/cuisine/veg/dolma-yalanci.html
If you do a search, the different spellings will take you to either greek or turkish recipe pages and then you an choose what you think you would like. I hope this is of help.-COLLAPSE
There was mention of a meatless version of this dish. As a vegetarian I would be very interested in how exactly to make them that way, could you simply leave out the meat or do the ingredients change?
I am going to make these this summer when our Greek friends come for the weekend. Guess I might just use rice and beef? Not sure now what to do. Thank you. L.
Actually, dolmuş, as it's spelled in Turkish, is an adjective meaning 'stuffed', not a verb.
I think , and this could be disputed according to family tradition, that one can use lamb or beef as the meat in dolmathes. There is even a Lent version that uses no meat, just rice and herbs and lots of olive oil. The canned dolmathes product is an attempt at that kind (Yalanji Dolmathes), but really pales in comparison to homemade ones.
Danieljdwyer, thanks for the Old English. Now I'll try...+READ
I think , and this could be disputed according to family tradition, that one can use lamb or beef as the meat in dolmathes. There is even a Lent version that uses no meat, just rice and herbs and lots of olive oil. The canned dolmathes product is an attempt at that kind (Yalanji Dolmathes), but really pales in comparison to homemade ones.
Danieljdwyer, thanks for the Old English. Now I'll try to re read the recipes in a Medieval Cookery book that I have. I didn't know what those characters represented, except by the context in which saw them.-COLLAPSE
Ithought they used ground lamb in dolmathes?
Sorry, not the ash, that's a different letter. The eth is the ð.
Thanks Simeon. That's very interesting. Old English had two separate letters for those two distinct sounds as well: the ash, ð, respresented the th as in than, and the thorn, þ, represented the th as in thump. Ah, the things we learn through food...
Hi "danieljdwyer".I couldn't resist answering a linguistic question. "Dolmathes" is an approximation of the actual greek pronunciation. Not only do we use another alphabet, but we have sounds that are not found in English. But that's another story. To return to the word, the initial D is sounded roughly as in English. The "d" or "th" just before the end of the word is actually pronounced as in...+READ
Hi "danieljdwyer".I couldn't resist answering a linguistic question. "Dolmathes" is an approximation of the actual greek pronunciation. Not only do we use another alphabet, but we have sounds that are not found in English. But that's another story. To return to the word, the initial D is sounded roughly as in English. The "d" or "th" just before the end of the word is actually pronounced as in "than" or "though" and is sometimes transcribed as "dh" to distinguish it from the english "thump" or"thought", which in Greek is expressed by a completely different letter. Etymologically, the word is derived from Turkish and I think it comes from the verb : " dolmush" meaning to fill or stuff, but not being a Turkish speaker I cannot attest to that. I don't see a regional influence in the pronunciation, although I'm sure there are regional or "family" variations in the dish itself, and that's a long topic as well...-COLLAPSE
I'm curious about the spelling dolmathes, which I have always seen as dolmades. Obviously the proper Greek spelling uses a different alphabet, but I wonder what accounts for the different spellings used in America. Is this a regional difference?
Nice! The Greeks have their own versions while the Middle-Easterners have their own version, like my grandmother taught me. If you are interested, take a look, http://suburban-gourmet.com/2007/04/24/grape-leaves-yes-grape-leaves/
Just thought I would share a visual. :)
Matt