Feta Stuffed Grape Leaves

Although the lentil and brown rice stuffed grape leaves were my most recent leaf stuffing adventure, they were not my first.

My first attempt at stuffing grape leaves was made using a simple recipe with feta cheese and flavored honey.

I brought these fancy tasting, minimal effort treats to a barbeque at my friends’ house a couple weeks ago.

The combination of ingredients might seem odd, but the salty, sweet, herby taste caught everyone off guard and filled their eyes with an “mmmmhhh” expression. Once their mouths were empty, everyone was commenting on the deliciousness of these stuffed grape leaves.

To make the flavored honey, simply mix fresh rosemary,  oregano, and pepper with honey. The original recipe called for pink pepper berries, but I substituted ground white pepper instead.

Spread a small amount of the honey onto a pickled grape leaf, layer on a piece of feta then top with more honey.

Not only does the honey taste amazing, it helps to ‘glue’ the grape leaf folds in place.

Fold the leaf around the feta then secure closed with a wooden skewer.

This recipe made 8 appetizer-sized bites which were later cooked on the grill until the cheese and honey had melted together.

My only regret is that I didn’t double the recipe.

Grilled Feta Stuffed Grape Leaves

From Schrot und Korn magazine

• 8 pickled grape leaves
• 50 grams liquid honey
• 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon fresh oregano, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon pink pepper berries
• 400 grams goat cheese feta
• Salt
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 8 small wooden skewers, soaked in water to prevent burning

1. Rinse and dry the pickled grape leaves, cut the feta cheese into 8 pieces.
2. In a small bowl, combine the honey, rosemary, oregano and pepper berries.
3. Place about half a teaspoon of the honey mixture onto the middle of each prepared grape leaf. Layer a piece of feta then another half teaspoon of honey. Sprinkle with sea salt, if desired.
4. Fold the grape leaves and secure closed with a wooden skewer.
5. Before grilling, brush each prepared leaf with olive oil. Grill on both sides about 5 minutes.

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