Gemista (Greek Stuffed Tomatoes)

This is another recipe from my Greek excursion. I had such a wonderful time learning some Greek cooking secrets, and making them again at home has been lovely. 

Gemista are cooked tomatoes stuffed with rice. Of course, it's not just rice, but rice, the inners of the tomatoes, and zucchini. I'm sure there are many variations, but that's the basic version and what I made at the Mykonian Spiti and Farm in Mykonos. You can read a little more on the experience and try another dish on the Spanakopita post. 

I can't say I'd had these made the same way in the past. I have had stuffed tomatoes, but honestly don't recall a vegetarian version and certainly not one that tasted like this. This is a really healthy, basic recipe, and one that I walked away feeling excited to share.

It all started with fresh tomatoes. I picked the biggest ones I could find and used vine-ripened, but beefsteak or similar works, too.

I began by cutting the tops off the tomatoes, setting them aside. Keep the lids!

Next, I scooped the filling out of the tomatoes and placed it in a medium bowl. I then used a grater on the larger tomato pieces, and followed this by grating some zucchini. I mixed in uncooked rice, fresh mint, salt and pepper.

I spooned the tomato guts into a medium bowl. The outer edges are softer, with the middle being firmer. It's important to grate these pieces up a bit, which I did using a grater. I'm sure a food processor would work as well, but I'd be mindful not to overdo it - full blown liquid isn't the goal, just smaller chunks.

I then grated up the zucchini and chopped mint and stirred it, then mixed in some uncooked rice. Note that I used short grain rice which cooked fine in the oven. With long grain rice, this requires heating to a simmer for 10 minutes to soften the rice.

Lastly, I stuffed the filling back into the tomatoes. I had some extra filling so placed that in a small pyrex dish to cook on its own. No waste!

I replaced the tomato tops (that was a fun game, trying to match them back!), and popped them in the oven for an hour.

Voila!

The tomatoes were nice and soft and the rice had cooked perfectly. I did have some excess water, which I drained out of the pan.

Man, these were perfect. Like, what a dish. There's no reason you can't add ground meat or something to these, but honestly, they were awesome on their own.

I wasn't even that hungry and slaughtered two of these. The mint adds a subtle flavor and the combination of tomato and rice is rally tasty. This is a really savory and compact way to serve a side, and would go with many main dishes. I would even recommend it to the non-tomato fanatic!

Gemista (Greek Stuffed Tomatoes) Recipe

Ingredients:

6-7 large tomatoes

1 zucchini

1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint

3 cups uncooked short grain rice

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon pepper

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cut tops off tomatoes and set aside. Lightly coat a casserole with olive oil or avocado oil and place tomatoes inside. Use a spoon to scoop out the inside of the tomato and place in a medium bowl. Use a large grater to grate larger chunks of tomato. Peel the zucchini and grate it into medium size pieces, then mix into the tomato filling. Stir in rice, salt, pepper, and mint. Spoon the filling into the tomatoes, then replace tops. Bake for 1 hour, until rice is fully cooked and tomatoes are soft. If there is excess filling, this can be baked in a ramekin or small glass casserole.