Gemista (Stuffed Tomatoes)

Summer is great; the weather, the sunshine, and all the fresh vegetables at the supermarket! It's my favorite time of year to make Gemista, or stuffed tomatoes.  In this case I stuffed both tomatoes and peppers, but feel free to do only tomatoes, only peppers, or even be adventurous and try stuffing some eggplants!  The ingredients you will need are as follows:







8 tomatoes
4 green peppers
1.5 lbs ground beef
4 cups rice
1/3 cup olive oil
1 onion
1/3 cup red wine
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
6-8 cups water
1 Tbsp. cinnamon
salt and pepper

I used a large roasting pan to bake my gemista in, and sprayed it with cooking spray.  Keep it by your side so you can arrange your vegetables in it.  I start by emptying out the tomatoes.  Wash them thoroughly and cup off the tops, but save them.  Using a paring knife, scour the inside edges of the tomato to loosen the pulp, and using a spoon scoop out the inside.  Save the pulp and juice of the tomato in a bowl.  The peppers are even easier to hollow out; wash them thoroughly, cut off and save the tops, and cut out the inside making sure to get rid of all the seeds.  You can discard the inside of the peppers.  I arrange them in a roasting pan for now while I make the stuffing.

To make the stuffing, use a large pot and put in olive oil and chopped up onion on medium-high heat.  Let onion brown for 2-3 minutes.  Add the ground beef, and brown that for about 5-6 minutes.  Once it looks cooked through, add the cinnamon and stir.  Then add the red wine and let it boil down for 2 minutes.  Next, add 3-4 cups white rice, the tomato pulp and juice you saved from the fresh tomatoes, and 6-8 cups water to cover the beef and rice mixture.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Cover the pot and lower heat for it to simmer.  It only takes about 15 minutes for the rice to soak up the water.  Keep an eye on it and stir it every 4-5 minutes to make sure it doesn't stick.  Once the liquid is gone, taste the rice texture.  If it seems dry, you can add more water (and some wine) and let it simmer down some more.  Once the stuffing is done, sprinkle in the parmesan cheese and mix.

Side note: you can also make the stuffing vegetarian by omitting the ground beef.  Just add chopped parsley, mint, and basil to your rice mixture.  I even like to add pine nuts for an extra crunch.  This will be just as delicious stuffed in your vegetables!

Once the stuffing is done, you can spoon into the hollow vegetables and arrange them in the roasting pan.  Once all the vegetables are stuffed, drizzle some olive oil on top and sprinkle some salt.

Bake in an oven at 365 degrees for about an hour, or until the vegetables have softened.  There will be plenty of stuffing left over in the pot.  To serve, I arrange some stuffing on the plate, and put two vegetables on top.  Many people in Greece also peel and cut potatoes around the stuffed vegetables in the roasting pan, drizzled with olive oil and salt and pepper.  I didn't have room in my pan this time around, but they are delicious and complement stuffed vegetables if you'd like to add them.

It makes a large portion of food, for either a large dinner party or great for leftovers!  Enjoy!