GemistaGemista
  • 10 servings
  • 2 hr 10 mins
  • 250 kcal

Gemista

Gemista, or Yemista, is a very popular and traditional Greek dish for stuffed vegetables. Using commonly available ingredients, this Gemista recipe is a vegetarian one (some add pork or beef mince). Every household in Greece seems to have their own, slightly unique Gemista recipe, but they tend to have rice and herbs in common as fillings - and are stuffed into a vegetable.

Full of flavour and vibrancy, this recipe for stuffed tomatoes is healthy and fresh. ‘Gemista’ actually means ‘filled with’ or ‘stuffed’ in Greek, so literally that is the only thing you have to do - stuff a vegetable with a filling! Served as a starter, a side dish or as the main course, the Gemista is pretty flexible. We enjoy eating it for our main meal, often accompanied by feta cheese and fresh bread.

Ingredients
  • For the filling
  • To assemble
Tips

Once you slice and empty the tomatoes, turn them upside down inside the baking pan to drain their liquids while preparing the filling.

It’s best to use ripe tomatoes because it’s easier to remove their flesh.

Depending on the size of the vegetables, there may be some left over filling. Wrap it in a piece of baking paper and baking along with the vegetables.

Step 1
1

Start by slicing off the top part of the tomatoes and peppers and carefully empty their insides with a spoon. Keep their top par, blend their flesh and set aside for the filling (note: throw away the seeds from the peppers).

Step 2
2

Filling: In a large pot add the olive oil and sauté the onions for 4 minutes.

Step 3
3

Add the pine nutes, raisins and the grated carrot and sauté for 3 more minutes.

Step 4
4

Add the rest of the ingredients (spring onions, dill, parsley, rice, salt, pepper, sugar, cumin, vegetable stock cube) plus the blended vegetables from the first step, and stir them for a couple of minutes.

Step 5
5

Assembly: Add a pinch of salt to each vegetable before filling them.

Step 6
6

Using a spoon, fill up each vegetable with the filling from step two and close their top. Do not overfill them because the rice will expand while cooking.

Step 7
7

Peel the potatoes, cut them in thick slices and add them to the baking pan.

Step 8
8

Grate two tomatoes and pour them in the baking pan along with the olive oil.

Step 9
9

Add a bit of extra salt and sprinkle breadcrumbs on the top of each vegetable.

Step 10
10

Cover with alumin foil and bake in a pre-heated oven at 180ºC (350ºF) for 40 minutes and then remove the alumin foil and bake for another 40 minutes.

Tools used in my recipes
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Pyrex Optimum Glass Square Pyrex Optimum Glass Square · High thermal shock resistant, ideal for baking in the oven and storing in the refrigerator.
Denby Natural Canvas Cereal Bowl Denby Natural Canvas Cereal Bowl · A beautiful and functional cereal bowl from Denby’s new Natural Canvas range.
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