Greek Recipes with May Lerios: Tomates Gemistes (or Yemistes)

Tomates [tomatoes] + gemistes [stuffed] (also transcribed as yemistes)

In fact, the recipe below covers tomatoes as well as peppers (piperies), so it's also known as piperies gemistes (or yemistes).

For 10 people

(Click on the thumbnail for a larger photo)

The Containers

Wash

10 large tomatoes.

Instead, you can use

10 large peppers.

Or you can have some tomatoes and some peppers. Either way, slice away the tops of the veggies, and set them aside (don't discard them).

Remove the innards of the peppers and throw away; carefully ensure that no seeds are left inside, and that the hard inner core is removed, too. Similarly, remove and set aside (don't discard) the insides of the tomatoes; be careful not to tear their skins in the removal process.

Place the gutted tomatoes and peppers on two Pyrex baking pans (one large for five of them, one small for the remaining three); or, use one 11 x 13 x 3 in³ pan (a disposable one will work fine).

Pepper each gutted container with

1/8 tsp sugar, and
1/8 tsp salt.

The Filling

Heat in a pot and in med hi heat

3 tbsp olive oil (a total of 1 3/4 cups will be used for this recipe).

Saute in this pot

2 medium onions, finely chopped, and
1 lb lean minced beef.

Do so until the beef is no longer red and the onions are yellowish. For a vegetarian alternative, use

2 finely chopped zucchinis instead of beef.

Then, add

1 1/2 cup short-grain white rice (pref. jasmine rice),
30 oz peeled and diced tomatoes (incl. the tomato juice in the tin can(s)), and
the innards of the gutted tomatoes.

Also, optionally, add any combination of the following:

1/4 cup pine nuts,
2 tbsp parsley, or
1/2 cup raisins.

Bring to boil, still in med hi heat, and then reduce heat to low and let cook for about 30 minutes, adding water as necessary to ensure that there is enough for the rice to cook.

The dish

Fill in the veggies with the mixture; if any is left, spread on the pans in the space between the veggies. Put the tops back on the veggies.

In the space between the veggies, also stick

3 medium potatoes, peeled and cut as steak fries.

Add a mixture of 1 part olive oil, and 2 parts water in the pans. In order to cover the potatoes and fill both pans about 3/4 of the way up, you'll use a total of approximately 2 1/2 cups water and

1 1/4 cups olive oil.

Bake in moderate oven (375 degrees) for 90 minutes or until the potatoes have been cooked. While cooking, every ten minutes, pour some of the oil & water mixture over the veggies so that their surface won't dry and wrinkle.