Wild rice dolmades

Serves four to five Ingredients:

50g cooked wild rice

6 tbsp olive oil

25g pine nuts

175g chestnut mushrooms, finely chopped

4 spring onions, finely chopped

2 -3 cloves of garlic, finely minced

2 tsp each of mint and dill, finely chopped salt and pepper, to taste 16-20 vine leaves (ready packed available from most delicatessens)

280-300ml vegetable stock

Method:

Heat up a frying pan and dry roast the pine nuts, stirring occasionally to stop them from burning in one place. This will take up to two-three minutes.

Take out of the pan onto a plate and leave to one side. Add a little of the olive oil into the frying pan and toss in the prepared mushrooms, spring onions and the garlic and cook on a medium heat until everything has softened (about six to seven minutes). Add the cooked wild rice, along with the dill and mint. Season the whole mixture with salt and pepper.

Place a vine leaf onto a chopping board with the right side down. Place a tablespoonful of the mixture into the centre of the vine leaf and fold the bottom half over the filling and fold the sides over towards the centre. Roll up the vine leaf and place seam side down onto a deep frying pan. Continue doing this until you have used up all the stuffing and vine leaves. There can be another layer of the stuffed vine leaves on top of each other.

Drizzle a little olive oil over each one and then pour the vegetable stock over it, just covering the top layer. Place a lid or plate over the vine leaves to stop them from unfurling.

Bring the stock to boiling point and then lower to a simmer. Let it simmer for about four to five minutes. Take the pan off the heat and let it cool down.

Carefully place the dolmades on a serving dish and refrigerate until needed. Just before serving, sprinkle with the toasted pine nuts.