Given this seemingly endless winter, I am fortunate that I still have a few of last year’s foraged foodstuffs in my freezer while we wait for the new greens to appear. This week I am bringing to Angie’s Festive Friday a platter of a kind of pinwheel where I was able to use two of my favourite ingredients: wild grape leaves and dandelion leaves in the form of pesto. These, some roasted vegetables, and a dough I invented on the spot which is so tasty and easy, I look forward to using it in other ways.
This recipe can be altered any way you like – you can use any bread dough, stuff them with any vegetables, or even add cheese, nuts, seeds,herbs, dried tomatoes, etc. I’m sure I will find more variations, but for my first attempt I decided on using only roasted vegetables with a little flavouring from the pesto. I made the dough gluten-free because I like the buckwheat base of this bread and wanted to share it with some who are unable to eat gluten.
The Dough
1 tsp yeast
2 tsp honey
1 cup warm water
3 cups buckwheat flour
1 1/2 cup quinoa flakes
1 tsp salt
4 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp onion flakes
Dissolve the yeast in the water mixed with honey. Add the rest of the ingredients, mix and form into a ball. Wrap it in plastic or parchment paper and leave to sit a few hours or overnight.
Fillings and Casing
2 doz. grape leaves (more or less depending on the size of the leaves)
1/2 cup dandelion or other pesto
2 cups mixed roasted vegetables (e.g. eggplant, celeriac, leek, mushrooms)
1 roasted garlic bulb
salt and pepper to taste
To Make the Rolls
Divide the dough in two, and roll each one into a 9 in. square between two layers of parchment paper. To assemble, I used a sushi mat. If you don’t have one, use a clean towel or parchment paper to hold the leaves together and make it easy to move to the baking sheet. Lay out the grape leaves vein side up on your mat overlapping each other a bit and slightly larger that the 9 in. square. Transfer one dough square onto the leaves. Spread the dough with half the pesto. Mash the garlic bulb and distribute half of it around the square in little dabs. Lay the vegetables randomly in one layer. Season with salt and pepper. Roll up the mat firmly. Tuck leaves over the ends, and add a bit of leaf to the end if they are not covered. Repeat for the other half
Transfer to parchment covered cookie sheet seem side down and brush or spray all the surfaces with oil. Bake at 325 for about 45 min. The grape leaves will be slightly browned. Cool a little before slicing.
I apologize for not having pictures of the rolling step of this process. I took some fine pictures, but didn’t realize until it was too late the chip wasn’t in the camera. I hope my explanation is clear enough.
These can be eaten warm, or cold like a sandwich. They can be frozen before slicing, and would make a great addition to a picnic.
March 28, 2014 at 6:45 am
Wow! This looks so unique and healthy!
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March 28, 2014 at 12:45 pm
Thanks for dropping by and the comment, especially about it being ‘unique’. It is very difficult to come up with original recipes – I often dream up something over days, and then find someone else has already done it.
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March 28, 2014 at 7:14 am
You are amazing! Did you say you just made up the dough on the spot?? Wow, and your pinwheels look so delicious. Awesome recipe. I take my hat off to you! 🙂
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March 28, 2014 at 12:25 pm
Thanks. I was a bit worried that not having tried the dough before, it might ruin the whole dish, but I am always amazed at how easily buckwheat can be used, so took the chance, and glad I did.
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March 28, 2014 at 12:18 pm
Wow! This looks delectable! Amazing ingredients (those veggie photos are gorgeous), dough on the fly, homemade pesto… They sound perfect! Lovely 🙂
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March 28, 2014 at 12:26 pm
Thanks. Home made pesto is pretty easy, and it freezes well, so I recommend it as a staple year-round.
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March 28, 2014 at 12:55 pm
Wow, how interesting! A dish with grape leave is interesting enough for me but dandelion pesto!? Is it bitter or is it not?
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March 28, 2014 at 2:20 pm
The dandelion pesto is a bit bitter, but a lot of people enjoy that bitterness, and I think it is one which you get to like the more you have it. I find a little extra salt makes it easier when you first try it. Otherwise, I recommend mixing the dandelion with other greens. I hope to work on more recipes once we get our dandelion crop. And meanwhile for this recipe, any pesto will do fine.
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March 28, 2014 at 1:43 pm
This is a really wonderful gluten-free recipe! And you made the dough hold together, that’s great. this recipe is a keeper…
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March 28, 2014 at 2:17 pm
Glad you liked it. Actually, it was no trouble holding the dough together. It was very spongy and easy to roll. I only put it between parchment so I wouldn’t have to add more flour. I really will use this recipe again in other ways.
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March 28, 2014 at 3:56 pm
Wow, Hilda, this is a marvelous creation! All those vegetables look fantastic and I was surprised to see you incorporate celery root (celeriac), which I love but never see anyone use. Your pinwheels with dandelion pesto look perfect.
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March 28, 2014 at 5:17 pm
Thanks so much. I can’t buy celeriac where I live, but picked up some when I was in Toronto recently. I also bought seeds to plant this spring. It is one of my favourite salad ingredients.
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March 28, 2014 at 4:40 pm
The only stuffed grape leaves I’ve had…have been from Costco! I bet your homemade recipe is wonderful!
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March 28, 2014 at 5:21 pm
If you liked the Costco variety, you are sure to like the wild, hand picked ones if you have any grape vines, wild or otherwise near you.
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March 28, 2014 at 8:37 pm
Hugely interesting recipe. So different and it also looks so beautiful!
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March 28, 2014 at 9:16 pm
Thank you. Good of you to comment, as I was a bit worried that I should have used a standard white dough to make it look prettier, but I felt I would rather sacrifice a little pretty for taste, so pleased you find it doesn’t look bad.
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March 28, 2014 at 10:15 pm
I love the combination of veggies you use, Hilda! They look so tasty!
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March 28, 2014 at 10:55 pm
Looks so healthy and yummy 🙂
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March 29, 2014 at 12:46 am
Excellent photos. I can practically taste it, reading the recipe while watching I can totally imagine how delicious they are.
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March 29, 2014 at 3:06 am
Dandelion leaves I still need to get used to, but the flowers I love! I’m looking forward to the dandelions, though, both flowers and leaves. And I hope my wild grape will give me bigger leaves this year. Last year they were just too small. These look very interesting, Hilda. Very creative! I have a feeling these are delicious, too. I will have to remember! 🙂
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March 29, 2014 at 3:21 am
Maybe if you pick a lot of leaves, the ones left will grow bigger. And the smaller ones taste better anyway.
Thanks for dropping by and checking out my weeds.
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March 29, 2014 at 6:26 am
This is so creative, and sounds very tasty! Next time I find some grape leaves I will give this recipe a go. Thanks for sharing! 🙂
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March 29, 2014 at 11:41 am
I just started to use buckwheat flour in recipes – there is a site that is just about buckwheat – buckwheatforyourhealth.com. Everything she posts has buckwheat in it. These look really good with the roasted veggies 🙂
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March 30, 2014 at 2:56 am
This sounds like a wonderful veggie dish!
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March 30, 2014 at 4:04 pm
What a original recipe!
Also looks so good. I discover your nice blog. Really like the healthy recipes.
Thank you for sharing this.
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April 5, 2014 at 1:34 am
Thanks for visiting and commenting. Hope to see you again.
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April 5, 2014 at 1:19 am
Yum! Healthy and delicious! :3
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