STUFFED TOMATOES

One of the most popular Greek summer dishes is stuffed tomatoes and green peppers (capsicum).  

Here is my recipe - with photos.  Other popular vegetables to stuff are aubergines and zucchinis and the stuffing is rice,  onions and herbs and maybe a little minced meat as well.   They're delicious and light in the summer heat

The hollowed out tomatoes and topless green peppers ready for stuffing.  The tomatoes are easily emptied by cutting a small slice off the top and digging out the flesh with a teaspoon.  It doesn't matter if the tomato skin is torn a little or a hole made in the bottom by too enthusiastic 'digging'.  The stuffing sits in there just the same.

Method

I put the flesh from half of the tomatoes, the onion and herbs into this little mixer and turn them into a pulp.  

You don't have to precook the stuffing and I never did, for 40 years. But K one day  told me his traditional mother boiled the stuffing for a short time so now I simmer it all for 10 minutes

Here are the vegetables, each filled with the stuffing mixed, ready to be closed.

Closed up, surrounded by potatoes cut into small pieces which hold them all in one place so they don't move around or fall over while cooking.  My mother-in-law always sprinkled breadcrumbs over them all before putting them in the oven so of course I do that as well (for her son).  They have been drizzled with olive oil and salt.  The dish does not need any extra water because usually quite a lot of juice comes from the tomatoes.  You can add a little water or tomato juice towards the end if you think they need it, and olive oil

And behold, this is what they look like after an hour in a hot oven.  A little blackness on top just gives them extra flavour.

RECIPE

- half a dozen tomatoes

- three or four green peppers

(or how ever many you think your family will eat)

- one onion, chopped and put into the mixer

- one clove of garlic

- a small bunch of parsely

 - mint

- basil

- one dessert spoon of short grain rice for each vegetable

- olive oil

- salt and pepper

If you're using zuchinis and aubergines, cut off a small lid and hollow them out the same way with a teaspoon.  Use the flesh in the stuffing.  Put it in the mixer with the tomato and onion.  

- 2 potatoes, cut into small pieces and parboiled for 10 minutes

- a little sugar

- also nice is a small handful of raisins and pine nuts

Hollow out the tomatoes and cut a lid off the top of the peppers, removing the seeds.

Put half the tomato flesh into the blender with the onion, garlic, roughly chopped parsely, mint and basil.  Mix to a pulp.

Put into a pot and start to simmer the mixture

Add the rest of the contents of the tomatoes roughly  mashing up any lumps with your fingers.    Add a small glass of olive oil, the rice, salt and pepper.  That is your stuffing ready.

Put a small sprinkle of sugar in the bottom of each tomato.  This counteracts the acidity of the tomato.  Now fill up each shell and cover with its lid.

Wedge the potatoes in between the vegetables.  Drizzle olive oil over them all, sprinkle a little more salt and scatter some breadcrumbs over the top.

Check that you've filled all the vegetables.

Cook in a hot oven from 1 to 1 1/2 hours.  The potatoes should be soft and the tops of the tomatoes lightly blackened.

If you want to use a little minced meat to make it a heartier meal for your man, then brown the mince a little and add it to the raw  tomato and rice mix and simmer.  I would use a handful of mince for this amount of vegetables.

Any stuffing mix left over you can just add to the dish around the veges and potatoes and maybe a little water.  It will cook perfectly well there and you'll have a little more to put on the plate.  

Serve with bread and feta cheese

Even better cold the next day.

Kali Orexi