Greek Stuffed Tomatoes - Gemista

Summer time in Greece - Time for vegetarian dishes to capture your imagination!

This is a summer recipe, when tomatoes are red and juicy and peppers have a unique taste. What better than stuff them with rice, add some herbs, olive oil, bake them in the oven and just enjoy! Here's the recipe:

INGREDIENTS:
6 medium tomatoes
6 medium peppers
200g glazed rice
150g fresh tomatoes, chopped into cubes
150g onions, finely chopped and sauteed
100-120ml olive oil
120g vegetables (pepper, zucchini, aubergine) finely chopped
10g dill or fennel, finely chopped
10g fresh mint, finely chopped
10g parsley, finely chopped
5g sugar
10g salt
5g pepper


PREPARATION
Wash the tomatoes and the peppers and slice off a little of the round end. Using a teaspoon, scoop out all he core and seeds. Chop the tomato pulp into cubes and mix with half of the oil.

For the stuffing, mix all the remaining ingredients together in a bowl.

Now, arrange the hollowed-out tomatoes and peppers on a baking tray and sprinkle on some salt, pepper and sugar. Leave for 10 minutes.

Then spoon in the rice mixture and cover with their lids. Pour on the chopped tomatoes in olive oil and bake in the oven at 160 degrees Celcius for one hour.
Optional: Add 350g minced meat (veal) to the stuffing.

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