Meat & Rice Stuffed Leeks

These stuffed leeks are filled with a hearty spiced ground meat and rice mixture then gently roasted until caramelized and tender.

The basic idea behind stuffed leeks is really similar to stuffed peppers or cabbage rolls but leeks bring their own special flavor and texture to the concept. They're soften and lend themselves well to caramelization, which

Plus, stuffing leeks isn't difficult and I found it overall less finicky than stuffing cabbage leaves.

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• Ingredients
• Equipment
• Instructions
• Serving Suggestion
• Related
• Recipe
• Comments

Ingredients

• Leeks: Try to pick very large leeks for this as it will make stuffing them much easier.
• Ground beef: You can also do a mix of ground beef and pork or use ground chicken.
• Rice: Short grain rice like arborio or carnaroli is the traditional choice for stuffed vegetables since it tends to be quite starchy and sort of gels everything together as it cooks and soaks in the juices. Long grain like basmati is also okay if that's all you have.
• Onion: I usually use yellow onions for stuffed vegetables but white or red are okay too. They should be diced quite finely so the filling has a smooth consistency.
• Garlic: I don't normally put garlic in cabbage rolls or stuffed pepper but it goes exceptionally well with the flavor of leek and the seasonings in this recipe.
• Parsley: Fresh parsley brings a brighter herbaceous top note that gives the filling more 'pop'.
• Red chili (optional): Fresh red chillies (de-seeded) are
• Seasoning: The seasoning mix in this recipe is overall a Mediterranean / Balkan vibe. Summer savory is earthy, dried dill brings in some sweetness, and dried mint adds a slightly spicy or astringent note. It's all rounded out with salt and a generous dose of black pepper.
• Water: You need to add some water to the pot so the rice can cook properly.
• Vegetable oil: The oil is necessary for the leeks to caramelize and brown.

Equipment

A medium-sized oven safe roasting pan with a lid is ideal. If you don't have a good-sized roasting pan with a lid then just cover with aluminum foil.

I used a Staub cast iron oval roasting dish which is 24 cm / 9.4 inches at its longest point. It was just the right size with a bit of room to spare.

Instructions

Step 1 Prepare the leeks: Set a pot of water to boil. Cut the fibrous green tops and root end off the leeks. Then use a knife to score one line along the length of the leek, trying to only go as deep as one leaf.

Carefully pull the leaves off the main stalk one at a time trying to keep them from ripping. You may need to cut a bit more off the root end as you go. You will get the hang of it quickly.

Thoroughly wash the leek leaves then put them in the boiling water a few at a time for up to a minute (just enough to soften). Set the blanched leaves aside in a bowl to cool until ready to use.

Step 2 Make the filling and stuff the leeks: Mix all the filling ingredients together then lay out a leek leaf or overlap a few thinner pieces together as one - you can see in the photo below it's actually two leek leaves overlapped.

Spoon a few tablespoons of the filling onto each leek as shown in the photos (imagine the bottom of the leek as a square made up of two triangles - then fill the top triangle of that square with filling).

The next part is quite fun to do. Fold the loose end up over the filling, then fold the filled triangle upwards so you seal off one of the open ends.

If you have large or long enough leeks, you might be able to seal all the ends.

My leeks were not very large so I only had a bit of leek left over to seal the remaining open end. I just gently folded it over as much as I could and it was fine - none of the leeks opened while cooking.

Once all the leeks are stuffed and placed in the roasting pan, drizzle them with the rest of the oil and the water then cover and roast according to the directions in the recipe card.

Serving Suggestion

These were so good that we quickly devoured them on their own without needing anything to go with them. This photo below wasn't for show - I started eating them straight out of the pot.

If you have a bit of time for forethought or want to assemble more of a meal around stuffed leeks, I think they would go really well with a garlicky yogurt sauce like Dill Yogurt Sauce with Garlic. They would also go well with a simple tomato salad.

Last winter I started doing something really weird with cabbage rolls and found myself repeating it with stuffed leeks. Hold on to your hats.... I like to mush them onto toast.

Might sound a bit weird but it's so good. Hearty, satisfying and turns them into an easy hand-held lunch for busy days when I don't feel like using a fork and knife.

We've all been there, right?

Related

Looking for more recipes inspired by Balkan, Greek and Mediterranean flavors? Maybe you'll like one of these:

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