Gemista is a classic Greek oven dish made of stuffed vegetables. Traditionally, it is prepared during summer time with fresh vegetables from the garden. Perfect for your next dinner party to impress your friends. This recipe follows the meatless approach. Inspired by the family recipe of my Greek girlfriend Eleni.
INGREDIENTS
(5-6 servings)
3 egg plants
2 courgettes
3 big onions
3 bell peppers
6 big tomatoes
250g (risotto) rice
400ml water
3 big potatoes
2 carrots
2 cloves of garlic
1 tbsp. tomato paste
1 tbsp. brown sugar
1 bunch of parsley
1 bunch of mint
Salt & pepper
PREPARATION
Start by cutting the potatoes into little wedges. Keep the skin for the extra flavour. Heat olive oil in a pan and fry the potato wedges for about 5 minutes. Add salt and pepper and spread them in a deep oven tray.
Next, slice off the top of the tomatoes. Take a spoon to scoop out the flesh.
Be careful not to break the tomatoes. Gather the tomato flesh in a bowl. We will use it later for the stuffing. Place the tomatoes on the oven tray together with the potato wedges.
Repeat the process also for the onions. Removing the skin only after they are scooped will make it easier. Keep the inner parts. Finely chop them afterwards so they can be added to the stuffing later.
Slice off the heads of the bell peppers. Throw away the heart and seeds.
Do the same for the eggplants but keep the flesh. Cut the egg plant flesh into little pieces too. Last but not least, give the courgettes the same treatment. Place everything on the deep oven pan.
Now it's time to prepare the stuffing. Take the inner leftovers from your vegetables and cut them into little pieces. Chop the two cloves of garlic and the chilli.
Heat up olive oil in a pan. Fry the onions until golden brown. Gradually add also the rest of the veggie stuffing into the pan. Stir it nicely together and fry for some more minutes.
Add the rice to the mix. Give it some water to soak in and blend it all. They say that for every piece of vegetables you need more or less a table spoon full of rice (eggplants arguably count for a little extra). Blend the tomato paste in the pan as well.
The tomatoes are next. Cut them into smaller pieces if they are too bulky and add them to the pan. Top it up with brown sugar. Stir it all together and let it simmer for 5 min. Add some more hot water, the rice will thank you later for that.
When the consistency is thick enough for your liking, take the pan off the stove. Finely cut your mint and parsley. Blend the herbs into the stuffing.
Open the top of all your vegetables in the deep oven pan. Take a spoon and put the stuffing into each of your vegetables. Don't overfill them but leave some room for the stuffing to grow in the oven.
Heat up the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Put the heads back on the vegetables. Sprinkle some salt and olive oil over it. Cover the deep oven tray with aluminium foil. Bake it in the oven for about 60min.
Take the aluminium foil off and bake for another 10 to 20 minutes.
Let it rest for a little. Serve it nicely arranged on plates or just put the whole tray on the table. Gather your friends and enjoy the feast.
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