Amira Beet-leaf Dolmades with Beetroot & Walnut Tzatziki

Level: Moderate
Cooking Time: 40 Minutes
Preparation Time: 30 Minutes
Serves 4

A beautiful take on traditional dolmades, beet leaves are softer than vine leaves and taste similar to spinach. Now in season, try to find leaves that are free from holes and about the size of your hand. If you can only find smaller leaves, not to worry just layer two or three smaller leaves together to make a bigger one. A new and exciting skill to learn!

What You Need

For the filling:

150 g Amira Indian Basmati Rice
75 g Halloumi cheese, grated
4 Spring Onions, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
zest of 1 Large Lemon
small Handful of mint leaves, finely chopped
small Handful of parsley leaves, finely chopped
3 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
pinch Chilli flakes (to taste)
30 g Pine Nuts
1 tsp Fennel Seeds
Salt and freshly ground pepper

To prepare the beetroot leaves:

15 large Beetroot leaves, stalks trimmed to the leaf
1 lemon, sliced
300 ml Boiling water or Stock
3 tbsp olive oil
4 Bay leaves (fresh or dried)

For the Beetroot & Walnut Tzatziki:

50 g walnuts
2 cooked Beetroot, roughly chopped
2 cl garlic, crushed
100 g Greek Yoghurt
2 tbsp olive oil
Handful of chopped mint
Juice of half a lemon, to taste
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

What to do

In a mixing bowl, stir together the uncooked rice, halloumi, spring onions, garlic, lemon zest, mint and parsley. Stir through the olive oil and season to taste with chilli flakes and salt and freshly ground black pepper.

In a small frying pan, toast the pinenuts until they are golden brown, then tip into the rice mixture. Add the fennel seeds to the frying pan and toast for just 30 seconds or so, until you can smell their aroma wafting up from the pan. Tip into a pestle and mortar and roughly grind before stirring through the rice mixture. Set aside.

Spread out the beetroot leaves in a large deep frying pan and pour over some boiling water until they are well covered. Blanch over a high heat for just a minute before draining and running under cold water to stop cooking any further. Heat a large pan of water (about 1/3 full) and bring to the boil. Place the leaves in the water and leave for one minute before pouring them carefully into a colander and running cold water on them to stop them cooking. Drain well.

On a clean work surface or board carefully flatten out one beetroot leaf with the stalk end pointing towards you. Place a generous dessert spoonful of the rice mixture in a sausage shape about 1 inch from the bottom of the leaf and fold the edges in. Fold the bottom of the leaf up and around the filling and tuck it in. Carefully roll the parcel up so that is resembles a small cigar. If any holes appear or you have a torn leaf you can patch it with some of the spare leaves. Continue until you have 12 stuffed leaves.

Place any spare leaves and the sliced lemon and bay leaves in a large saucepan with a lid. Carefully arrange the stuffed leaves over the top of the lemon and pour over the boiling water or stock and olive oil. Place a small plate on top of the leaves to weigh them down, place the lid on the pan and cook over a very low heat for 40 minutes. Check one stuffed leaf to make sure the rice is cooked. Remove the stuffed leaves with tongs and set aside to cool.

Whilst the dolmades are cooling, make the tzatziki. Add the walnuts to a small frying pan and toast over a medium heat for a couple of minutes then tip into a food processor and grind to coarse crumbs. Add the beetroot, garlic, yogurt, olive oil and mint and blitz to a smooth puree. Season to taste with lemon juice, salt and pepper and spoon into a small serving dish.

Serve the dolmades warm or cold with the tzatziki.

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