Vegetarian Stuffed Vine Leaves

Vine leaves:

1. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Carefully unroll the vine leaves, if they are rolled together in bundles.
2. Place in the water and simmer gently for about 3 or 4 minutes. Drain well and leave until cool enough to handle.

Filling:

1. In the meantime, boil some water in a kettle. Place the rice in a heatproof bowl large enough to hold all the filling ingredients later. Pour the boiling water over the rice and let stand for about 5 minutes. Drain well. Return the rice back to the bowl.
2. Chop the mushrooms very finely. Grate the carrots on the rough grater and the garlic cloves on the fine grater. Chop the onions very finely. Add the vegetables to the rice into the bowl.
3. Add 2 tablespoons of the tomato paste, thyme, both paprika powders, chopped parsley, and olive oil.
4. Adjust the taste very generously with salt, pepper, and more of the spices, if necessary. Mix well. Taste the filling to make sure it is salty and spicy enough.

Rolls:

1. Start making the vine leaf rolls. Read above for more information on that. Place a vine leaf on the working surface. If too small or broken, use two leaves to make the filling surface larger or to cover the broken parts.
2. Add 1-2 teaspoons of the rice filling (depending on the size of your leaf) in the middle-lower part of the leaf. Fold the lower part of the vine leaf over the filling, fold the left and right sides of the leaf over the filling as well, then form a roll.
3. Place the roll with the seam facing down in the cooking pot.
4. Repeat until you have used all the filling, arranging the rolls nicely and tightly in the pot.
5. Add the bay leaves and the black peppercorns between the vine leaf rolls. Mix the tomato passata (tomato puree) with about ½ cup of the vegetable broth and the remaining two tablespoons tomato paste. Pour this mixture into the pot. Add some extra vegetable broth to barely cover the rolls.
6. Cover with a tight-fitting lid and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down to low and simmer for 1 ¼ hour. Check one roll to see if the rice is done. It should be soft and a bit sticky.
7. If it is not so yet, continue cooking for about another 15 minutes adding more vegetable broth if necessary. Check the rice again and continue cooking for another 15 minutes or so if the rice is not cooked yet, but 1 ½ hour should normally be enough.
8. Serve the rolls with tomato or yogurt sauce.