BAKED JAPRAK- ALBANIAN VINE LEAVES
Serves 4 or 4-8 as part of a sharing feast, Ready in 1.5 Hours
Albanian japrak are similar to Greek dolmades- little rolled vine leaves stuffed with rice, veggies or meat and usually served with a yoghurt or sauce to dip them in.
I’m obsessed with anything cooked in tomato so this is my take on japrak that I think really takes it to the next level. Vine leaves stuffed with a rich vegetable and rice filling, baked in a delicious tomato sauce with a feta crumb on top. This dish isn’t that quick to prepare but I promise you, it’s worth it!
If you’re doing these for guests or as part of a feast, you can easily prepare them ahead of time and bake them when your guests arrive. This recipe also makes quite a lot of filling so if you’re catering for a small crowd, use the filling you need and you can freeze the rest for a couple of months.
Ingredients
For the Tomato Sauce:
1 Onion, minced
1 Garlic bulb, minced
1x Tin chopped tomatoes (400g)
1 Tablespoon tomato puree
100ml Water
Salt & Pepper
1 Teaspoon sugar
Small handful of basil
For the Japrak:
1 Onion, minced
3 Garlic cloves, minced
1x Tin chopped tomatoes (400g)
1x Courgette, finely chopped
1x red pepper, finely chopped
100g Brown rice
200g Feta cheese, crumbled
1 Tablespoon oregano
1x stem of rosemary, leaves removed and finely chopped
Salt & Pepper
Pinch of dried chilli flakes
2 Bay leaves
500ml water
Vine leaves (I like to buy mine in a jar with brine as they last longer but if you fancy getting fresh ones, go for it! You’ll need at least 22-25 but it’s always good to have extra in case of any breakages)
Method
For the Sauce:
Prep the sauce. In a saucepan, heat a little olive oil and fry off your onions and garlic until softened.
Add the tomato puree, tinned tomatoes, water and season well.
Add the sugar and dissolve.
Break the basil into small pieces by hand into the sauce.
Simmer on a low heat for a few minutes.
When the sauce is ready, transfer it to the oven dish you will be using to bake the japrak and set aside.
For the Japrak:
Onto the japrak filling! In the same pan you made the sauce in before transfering it to the oven dish, heat a little oil and fry off your onions and garlic until softened.
Add your courgettes, peppers, rosemary, oregano, bay leaves, chilli flakes and season well.
Once these have softened a little, add your brown rice and fry for a minute to toast it a little.
Then add your tomatoes and 500ml of water.
Leave to simmer on a low heat for 30 minutes or until the rice is fully cooked. Add more water if you need as it’s cooking also.
When the rice is cooked, evenly mix 100g of the crumbled feta into it.
Set aside to cool fully.
Assembling the japrak:
When the filling is cooled, lay your vine leaves out so that they are flat. If I’m using jarred ones, I’ll usually take out a little bunch and sort them so that I’m using ones of the same size and discard any that are too broken.
In the middle of the vine leaves, add a tablespoon or so of the filling and arrange this neatly so that it forms a small sausage shape in the centre of the leaf.
Heat the oven to 200 degrees (180 fan)
Fold the two bottom leaf edges in towards the centre of the vine leaf, covering the filling if they are big enough.
Gently fold any side edges of the leaf into the centre so that the sides are as straight as possible.
Then gently roll the vine leaf away from yourself to fully cover the filling. You don’t need to make these too tight otherwise they may break and the filling will come through the leaf.
Smooth down any last leaf edges that may be sticking out.
Once you assemble your japrak, add them on top of the tomato sauce in your baking dish. I like arranging mine in a traditional circular arrangement but you can place them in there however you like. Make sure you don’t overlap the japrak and that you gently press them into the sauce a little so that they soak up all that rich sauce when they’re baking later on.
Continue assembling the japrak until you have covered your dish or made your desired amount.
When they are all in the oven dish, sprinkle the remaining 100g of feta cheese over the top of the japrak and place into the oven for 30 minutes or until the feta is baked on top, You want this to colour a little so don’t worry if it browns a little.
Serve warm with fresh bread to soak up all that delicious sauce. I also love serving mine with a yoghurt sauce. When the japrak are dipped in here, it creates the most delicious creamy texture with the tomato sauce!