Instructions: Place the peeled onions in a 2 or 3 quart pot, add enough cold water to cover and bring to a boil over moderate heat. Lower the heat and simmer the onions, uncovered, for 40 minutes. Remove them from the pot, drain and let cool on a platter while you make the meat stuffing (see recipe). Pull off each onion layer separately. They should slide off quite easily. Cut the largest outer layers of the onions in half, but remember to leave them large enough to enclose the stuffing. Discard the inner part of the onions

(or use them for some other purpose) if the leaves are too small to stuff.

Put a heaping teaspoon of the meat stuffing in the middle of each onion leaf and enclose it by folding over the edges of the leaf. At this poinnt they may be covered with plastic and refrigerated for up to 2 days before cooking. Preheat oven to 400 F. In a shallow flameproof baking dish, melt 3 tablespoons of butter over low heat. Remove the dish from the heat and place the onion rolls, sealed side down, side by side in the butter, first rolling each in the butter to coat it. Bake 15 minutes, then baste with butter in the dish, sprinkle with bread crumbs and bake another 15 minutes until the onions are lightly browned and the crumbs crisp. L"kdolmar may be served as part of a sm"rgasbord or as a main dish.

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