Gemista
Juicy tomatoes and sweet bell peppers stuffed with fragrant rice, mint and parsley, baked in olive oil together with potato wedges until tender — a beloved summer dish of Greek cuisine.
Ingredients
- large tomato4 pcs
- bell pepper4 pcs
- rice180 g
- onion1 pcs
- garlic2 cloves
- parsley25 g
- mint10 g
- olive oil5 tbsp
- potato400 g
- salt1 to taste
- black pepper (ground)1 to taste
Instructions
Cut the tops off the tomatoes and peppers to make lids, carefully scoop out the flesh and seeds with a spoon; also remove the white membranes from the peppers, and finely chop the tomato flesh.
Finely chop the onion and garlic and sauté in olive oil until translucent, add the rice and cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
Add the chopped tomato flesh, parsley, mint, salt and black pepper; simmer for 5 minutes over medium heat — the rice should remain slightly undercooked, as it will finish cooking during baking.
Fill the hollowed-out tomatoes and peppers with the rice mixture to about ¾ of their volume, leaving room for the rice to expand, and cover with the reserved lids.
Arrange the stuffed vegetables in a baking dish alongside the potato wedges, drizzle the vegetables with olive oil and pour a little water into the bottom of the dish.
Cover the dish with foil and bake in an oven preheated to 180°C for 40 minutes, then remove the foil and bake for another 15–25 minutes, until the rice is fully cooked and the vegetables and potatoes are tender with a light golden crust.
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