One of the observations I often hear about Greek cuisine is that the food tastes so much better than over here in North America, and often many wonder “why?” Greek cuisine shines when ingredients are used that are in season, and when it’s the middle of summer, that means tomatoes!
Greeks love stuffing vegetables and it may be zucchini, eggplant, peppers or in today’s case, tomatoes (or all these vegetables in one roasting pan). Today’s dish is about simplicity and allowing seasonal ingredients to carry the flavours of the dish: extra-virgin olive oil, scallions, herbs, rice, tomato pulp and the tomatoes themselves as the vessel. When slicing a tomato, the sharp serrated knife is best.
Stuffed Tomatoes With Rice & Herbs
(serves 4-6)
12-14 medium sized ripe tomatoes
2 bunches of scallions, thinly sliced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 cup extra-virgin Greek olive oil
2 cups long grain rice, rinsed
1 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 cup chopped fresh dill
1/4 cup chopped fresh mint
2-3 tsp. sea salt (to taste)
1/2 tsp. ground pepper
hot water
Pre-heated 400F oven
- Wash your tomatoes and remove the stems. Slice the top of each tomato (but leave a bit attached to act as a hinge) and use a pairing knife to cut the inner membranes. Now carefully spoon out (use a grapefruit spoon) the flesh of each tomato and place each in a deep baking dish/roasting pan that will tightly fit all the tomatoes and sprinkle salt in the inside of each tomato. Puree the tomato pulp and reserve.
- Pour 1/2 cup of olive oil in a skillet and add your scallions and garlic. Stir and sweat for 5-7 minutes until soft and translucent. Now add your tomato puree and simmer for another five minutes. Add the rice, the herbs (dill, parsley, mint) and stir in, then take off the heat. Add your salt and pepper, stir in, and allow to cool.
- Using a spoon, stuff your tomatoes (push the filling down with your fingers if need be) and cover with the tops. Repeat and stuff your remaining tomatoes.
- Pour 1 cup of hot water in the pan plus the remaining olive oil over the tomatoes. Sprinkle with sea salt and fresh ground pepper and place in your pre-heated oven (uncovered) for 60-70 minutes or until the tomatoes are golden-brown on top.
- Serve with some good crusty bread, a slab of Greek Feta and a glass of Greek wine.
52 Responses
Scrumptiously herby and summery!
Cheers,
Rosa
Looks delicious
Looks delicious. I’ll be making this with our chicken tonight!
Peter, these look absolutely scrumptious! I must say, I have tried making yemista a few times – using in-season tomatoes – and every time the result is fine, but flavour-wise still miles away from what is served in Greece. Not sure where the secret is. Did you get the same result as you may get in a taverna somewhere in Thessaloniki?
Peter – This is so similar to an Italian dish that’s popular in Rome. I love these tomatoes stuffed with rice and I can imagine they’d be really wonderful this time of year with all our fresh Jersey tomatoes. I’m also partial to a good dish of pasta made with roasted tomatoes.
Και στο τέλος συνοδεία με μια δροσερή ρετσίνα γεμάτη Ελλάδα. Εις υγείαν όλων μας.
I make a gorgeous pizza with no sauce but sliced fresh tomatoes and fresh mozzarella cheese and even fresh basil leaves.
i love green tomatoes with orka
I like to stuff tomatoes with chicken salad.
I love goulash with my mom’s canned tomatoes!
https://twitter.com/karinaroselee/status/372483131007176705
i love to make margarita pizza
I love making gazpacho.
Stunning presentation and wonderful recipe. My hubby is a huge tomato lover so I need to try these for him.
These look awesome! We grow tomatoes in our garden. If I can keep the children away from them long enough (they love them with salt and pepper right off the vine!) I plan to use this recipe! Thanks!
I like caprese salad!
https://twitter.com/toocutebows/status/373611783719628800 tweeted :)
ratatouille for me!
I love tomatoes. My favourite is probably in an omelet, pasta salad, or just on a sandwich :)
I love bacon, egg, cheese & fresh tomato sandwiches. I also like bacon, lettuce, tomato & mayo sandwiches.
love tomatoes in pasta i love sun dried ones with pine nuts and a thin pasta and light sauce
I use fresh tomatoes right on top of salads and in sandwiches!!
https://twitter.com/mommy2fiveboys/status/373677504638099456
Tomato & Basil Casserole :)
I like tomatoes on BLT’s and in Taco salads
I love to use tomatoes from my garden for salsa and tomato soup :)
My favorite dish to make with tomatoes has to be one that goes with one of my favorite foods….bacon. A good old bacon and tomato sandwich…easy and tasty.
i love a fresh tomato on a BLT!
i tweeted: https://twitter.com/bellows22/status/373775075998044160
tomato sauce
My favorite recipe with tomatos is sauteing fresh chopped tomatos with garlic and a tiny bit of oil and pouring that over pasta. I like simple dishes.
I like to make bruschetta.
I like to make Tomato Tart http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/tomato-tart-50400000122475/
https://twitter.com/klp1965/status/373821835709648896
I use fresh tomato in my pasta salad, tacos, BLT’s, toss salad, salsa, so many uses
Macaroni and tomatoes
I like to make homemade salsa with tomatoes. i use totamoes, onion, salt, pepper and a can of rotel.
I’ve never tried tomatoes like this but I am going to have to try! Looks delicious.
We love Fiesta Rice and especially on a cold, rainy day, we crave Mexican Chicken Soup. It is spicy and filling, we love it.
I love chili which uses a lot of tomaotes.
salsa and sauces
I love tomatoes in a BLTwith mayo and I get my kids to eat them by adding them to salads
tbarrettno1 at gmail dot com
I tweeted: https://twitter.com/donnak4/status/373937071158591488
tweet
https://twitter.com/ChelleB36/status/373937936217038848
tbarrettno1 at gmail dot com
Great tomatoes!
We like BLT’S and we like chili and I make a homemade salsa with tomatoes from our garden.
I love tomatoes stuffed with chicken or tuna salad, freshly made salsa and BLT’s. Of course I also love them just sliced with a bit of sprinkled salt.
Pizza Margherita.
I posted a tweet too: https://twitter.com/AnnaZed/status/453028133802102785
will stuffed peppers stuffing (ground beef or lamb, Rice, Etc) work in a tomato too?
Jim, yes of course!
Excellent I’ll try it! Thanks!