Gemista (Greek Stuffed Tomatoes and Peppers)
- Total timeTotal
- 2 hr 20′
- ServingsServings
- 6
Gemista are the classic Greek summer dish: tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and zucchini stuffed with rice, herbs and grated vegetables, then baked slowly until only their olive oil remains.
Gemista are the classic Greek summer dish: tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and zucchini stuffed with rice, herbs and grated vegetables, then baked slowly until only their olive oil remains. Follow the steps below and my grandmother's secrets, and your gemista will be full of flavor, with just the right texture.
My secrets for tasty gemista
– Use many different vegetables for a rich, tasty rice filling.
– Eggplant is a must: it gives the filling a special flavor and texture.
– If you don't stuff zucchini, grate one into the filling. It makes a difference!
– Use long-grain rice that doesn't turn mushy, not the "rice for stuffing" sold in many packs.
– Don't add too much liquid.
– Be patient with the baking: gemista need time, until only their oil is left.
Step by step
1 photo
Gemista Recipe
Ingredients
Method
Preparing the vegetables
- The first step is to wash the vegetables well.
- Cut off the top of each one and keep these “lids” for later.
- Carefully hollow out the tomatoes, eggplants and round zucchini, and keep their flesh. Scoop out the zucchini and eggplants well, so their walls are thin and they cook through in the oven.
- Remove the seeds from inside the peppers.
- Strain the tomato flesh to remove most of the liquid and the seeds, then chop it finely together with the eggplant flesh.
- Use only half of the zucchini flesh, because it holds a lot of liquid.
- TipCareful: you want the vegetables in small pieces, not puréed in a food processor.
- Peel one large potato and the onions.
- Grate the potato and onions on the coarse side of a box grater and put everything in a fine sieve.
- Squeeze the vegetables well to remove as much liquid as you can.
- Finely chop some parsley and mint, and keep 1 large handful of each for the gemista.
Stuffing the vegetables
- In a large bowl, add all the chopped and grated vegetables for the filling, together with the rice, the chopped parsley and mint, and 60 ml olive oil.
- Mix the filling well, add salt (about 2 tsp) and pepper, and set it aside.
- In a small bowl, mix 2 tsp sugar with 2 tsp salt, and sprinkle a pinch inside each vegetable before you stuff it.
- Fill the vegetables with the rice mixture, leaving about a finger’s width of space at the top: the rice swells as it cooks, and you don’t want it to overflow.
- Close the vegetables with their lids and stand them upright in a deep baking pan, except for the Florina peppers, which go in lying down.
- Peel 2–3 potatoes, cut them into wedges and use them to fill the gaps between the vegetables.
- Cut 2–3 ripe tomatoes in half, remove the stems and grate them on the coarse side of a box grater. You can also peel them and purée them in a food processor.
- Pour the grated tomato over the vegetables, drizzle 200 ml olive oil over the top and add 200 ml water to the pan.
- Sprinkle a little breadcrumbs over each vegetable.
- Bake in a preheated oven at 200°C for 1.5–2 hours, until the gemista are cooked and all the liquid has evaporated, leaving only their oil. If your oven has strong heating elements, bake on conventional, on a low rack; otherwise use convection (fan), on the middle rack.
- Let them cool a little before serving.
- TipTry them cold the next day, after a night in the fridge. Some say they taste even better!
