Gemista (Greek Stuffed Vegetables)

🛒 Ingredients

• Large Tomatoes 600 g · 108 kcal
• Bell Peppers (various colors) 450 g · 90 kcal
• Zucchini 300 g · 51 kcal
• Yellow Onions 200 g · 80 kcal
• Garlic 15 g · 22 kcal
• Short-grain rice 150 g · 540 kcal
• Fresh parsley 20 g · 7 kcal
• Fresh mint 10 g · 7 kcal
• Olive oil 90 g · 810 kcal
• Potatoes 450 g · 347 kcal
• Tomato paste 30 g · 24 kcal

👨‍🍳 Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F). Wash vegetables thoroughly. Carefully scoop out the pulp from the tomatoes, bell peppers, and zucchini, reserving the tomato and zucchini pulp.
2. Finely chop the onions and garlic. Mince the reserved tomato and zucchini pulp. In a large bowl, combine the chopped onions, garlic, minced pulp, uncooked rice, chopped parsley, and chopped mint.
3. Add tomato paste and a generous amount of olive oil (about half of the total), then season well with salt and black pepper. Mix everything thoroughly until well combined. This is your stuffing mixture.
4. Carefully stuff each hollowed vegetable with the rice mixture, filling them about two-thirds full to allow for rice expansion during cooking. Place the stuffed vegetables in a large baking dish.
5. Arrange the potato wedges around the stuffed vegetables in the baking dish. Drizzle the remaining olive oil over the vegetables and potatoes.
6. Pour about 1 cup of water or vegetable broth into the baking dish, ensuring it reaches the bottom without washing over the stuffing. Cover the dish loosely with foil.
7. Bake for 60 minutes with the foil on, then remove the foil and bake for another 15-20 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender and the rice is cooked through and lightly golden on top. Serve hot or at room temperature.