Gemista

Ingredients

Vegetables

• 6large ripe tomatoes
• 4peppers
• 2courgettes or aubergines, optional

Filling

• 300 gmedium grain rice, such as Carolina
• 2onions, finely chopped
• 4 clovesgarlic
• the scooped tomato pulp
• 1large bunch parsley, chopped
• 1large bunch mint, chopped
• a little dill
• 3 tbsppine nuts, optional
• 3 tbspraisins, optional
• salt and black pepper

Also

• 200 mlolive oil, and more for drizzling
• 3potatoes, in thick wedges
• 1 tspsugar
• 300 mlwater

To serve

• warm or at room temperature
• with feta and bread

Directions

1. Use a genuinely generous quantity, far more than seems necessary for baking vegetables. Holding back on the oil gives dry, dull gemista, and Greek cooks are unapologetic about the amount.
2. Slice a lid off the top of each tomato and pepper, keeping the lids. Scoop the flesh out of the tomatoes carefully with a spoon, keeping the shells intact. Work carefully around the walls, since a punctured tomato leaks its filling into the dish and collapses. Leave a wall about half a centimetre thick, which is strong enough to hold up.
3. Deseed the peppers and remove the white ribs. Blend or chop the scooped pulp and use it in the filling and the sauce. Sprinkle a little salt and a pinch of sugar inside each hollowed tomato and turn them upside down for fifteen minutes to drain.
4. Use raw rice rather than cooked. Now the quantity, which needs restraint. Fill each vegetable only about two-thirds full. Fry the onions slowly in olive oil for ten to fifteen minutes until soft and sweet. Cook the onion properly rather than briefly, since it is a main flavour in a dish with few ingredients.
5. Add the garlic, then the chopped tomato pulp, and cook for five minutes. Stir in the raw rice and the herbs, and season firmly. Use large bunches rather than a sprinkling, since the herbs are a main component. Season the filling more heavily than seems right, since the vegetables around it mute everything.
6. Spoon the filling into each vegetable and put the lids back on. Stand them upright in a roasting dish, packed closely so they hold each other up. Cut potatoes into thick wedges and wedge them into the gaps between the vegetables. They stop the tomatoes and peppers falling over, and they absorb the oil and juices, which makes them arguably the best part of the dish.
7. Season them and turn them in oil before they go in. Pour the remaining tomato pulp and water around the vegetables, not over them. Pour olive oil generously over everything, including into each vegetable.
8. Cover the dish with foil and bake at 180°C for about an hour. Covering it for the first hour traps steam, which is what cooks the raw rice through. Baste them once with the pan juices when you uncover them. Open one and taste the rice at the centre, which should be completely soft with no hard grain.
9. Let them stand for at least thirty minutes before serving, and an hour is better. Gemista are meant to be eaten warm or at room temperature rather than hot from the oven, and they need time to settle. Serve them with feta and bread to mop up the oil in the dish.

Technique

• They belong to the ladera, dishes cooked in a lot of olive oil and eaten warm or cool.
• The rice goes in raw and the vegetables are filled only two-thirds full.
• The potatoes wedged between them soak up the oil and are the best part.

Substitutions

• Any medium grain rice, though long grain works at a pinch.
• Courgettes or aubergines as well as tomatoes and peppers.

Variations

• Made with minced meat in the filling, which is also common.
• With pine nuts and raisins, as in parts of the islands.
• Made with courgettes and aubergines as well.

History

Tomatoes and peppers stuffed with rice and herbs and baked in oil, part of the ladera repertoire of olive-oil dishes.

Frequently asked questions

What is Gemista?

Gemista is a main from Greece: tomatoes and peppers baked stuffed with herbed rice. Tomatoes and peppers stuffed with rice and herbs and baked in oil, part of the ladera repertoire of olive-oil dishes.

How long does Gemista take to make?

Gemista takes 45 min of preparation and 1 hr 30 min of cooking. The recipe makes 6 servings. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Gemista?

Yes, within limits. Any medium grain rice, though long grain works at a pinch. Courgettes or aubergines as well as tomatoes and peppers.

What is the most important thing to get right in Gemista?

Use raw rice rather than cooked. Now the quantity, which needs restraint. Fill each vegetable only about two-thirds full. Fry the onions slowly in olive oil for ten to fifteen minutes until soft and sweet. Cook the onion properly rather than briefly, since it is a main flavour in a dish with few ingredients.