Greek dolmades with mulberry leaves – makes 8

Ingredients

450g mulberry leaves (roughly 8 large leaves) If you have small leaves, try overlapping them for the rolls
370g long grain rice
12 spring onions
1 red onion
2 cloves garlic
2 lemons
1 cup (240 ml) extra-virgin olive oil
4 tbsp minced fresh herbs (dill, parsley, mint, coriander)
1 dash black pepper
table salt to taste

Method

ONIONS AND GARLIC
First, peel and mince the red onion and the garlic. Then, reduce the spring onions into thin rounds. At this point, pour the vegetables into a saucepan along with 3 tbsp of olive oil and sauté 20 minutes over medium heat until the onion becomes soft and translucent.
RICE STUFFING
Now, add the rice into the pan, and sauté a couple of minutes along with the onions. Then, add 1 cup of boiling water and simmer the rice half of the time suggested onto the box, stirring as needed. If the water evaporates too early, add a little more: at the end, you want the rice half cooked, and the water completely evaporated. Finally, add salt and pepper to taste, cover the pan with a lid and let it rest far from the heat. At this point, rinse, dry and mince the herbs, and combine with the rice and onions. Eventually, pour the rice stuffing into a plate and let it reach room temperature.
DOLMADES ROLLS
First, bring to boil a pot full of water. Then, place the pot far from the heat and poach immediately the leaves a couple of minutes. Finally, rinse the leaves with cold water. Now, line the bottom of a pot with a layer of grape leaves: these to protect the dolmades. At this point let’s prepare the dolmades! Spread out one or two grape leaves, depending on their size. Then, place a tbsp of rice stuffing over the leaf, and roll the dolma folding the borders. Finally, place the dolma into the pot. Repeat this step to finish the leaves and stuffing, assembling more layers of dolmades.