Recipe
Part A: vegetables
* 3 big tomatoes
* 3 bell peppers
* 3 big potatoes
* oregano – olive oil – salt – black pepper
* 150 ml of water
Part B: stuffing
* 50 ml of olive oil
* 2 dry onions
* cloves of garlic
* tomato pulp from the inside of the tomatoes
* 200 ml of a ready made tomato pulp
* 100 gr of rice for risotto
* fresh mint
* fresh parsley
* fresh dill
* fresh oregano
* dry oregano
* salt – black pepper
* lemon
* some wine
* 2 vegetable cubes
* 1 lt of water
Let the mixture boil for at least 30 min.
After the stuffing of vegetables, put the food in the oven at 180 C (fan assisted) for 1,5 hours with aluminum foil on the top. 15 min before the food is ready, take the foil off.
Procedure
1. The pulp from inside of the tomatoes must get through a mixer.
2. I always put the mixture that has left after the stuffing of vegetables on the top of the potatoes. For this reason, I prepare more mixture than needed. In case you don’t like something like that, you can decrease the amount of mixture in half, or you can increase the number of vegetables.
3. Please note that after so many years that I am preparing this food, I need at least 1,5 hours to prepare to initial mixture and to cut the vegetables and herbs, and also 1,5 h for the food to get ready in the oven (around 3 h in total).
4. I must stress that as the mixture has only rice and tomato pulp, in order for the food to have this particular, special taste, the herbs are absolutely necessary. Especially mint. Even if you decide to take out the other herbs, this must definitely stay.
Description
Gemista is a dish made in many Balkan countries. These are usually vegetables stuffed with rice (with or without minced meat). In Greece, squid can also get stuffed, while rice can be replaced by bulgur or chopped vegetables with minced meat. The food is mostly prepared during the summertime, because during this time the vegetables ripen, and also because the food is easily digested when it is too hot.
In the Greek cuisine, the vegetables that are stuffed are mainly tomatoes and bell peppers, while the dish is garnished with potatoes or pumpkins. Eggplants or zucchini can also get stuffed, and served with yogurt on the side. In a variation of this dish, made in the regions of Smyrna or Constantinople, raisins, pine nuts and ground cinnamon are used.