Gemista Stuffed Vegetables
Tomatoes and green bell peppers, packed with short-grain rice, onion, garlic, parsley, mint, oregano and cinnamon, then baked low with potato wedges. Serves 6.
- Prep
- 35 min
- Cook
- 75 min
- Total
- 110 min
- Serves
- 6
Ingredients
What you’ll need — tap to tick off as you go
- 200 g
- 3 cloves
- 20 g
- 10 g
- 2 tsp
- ½ tsp
- 2 tbsp
- 80 ml
- 1 tsp
- ½ tsp
- 250 ml
- 1 tsp
Process
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Preheat the oven to 190°C. Slice the tops off the tomatoes and green bell peppers, keeping the tops as lids. Scoop out the tomato flesh and seeds into a bowl, and remove the pepper cores and seeds. Lightly salt the insides of the peppers and set all the hollowed vegetables and lids aside.
Blend or finely chop the scooped tomato flesh. You should have about 250 ml of tomato pulp; if it is very watery, drain a little.
Warm 50 ml of the olive oil in a wide pan over medium heat. Add the yellow onion and garlic and cook for 4–5 minutes until soft and translucent, not browned.
Stir in the short-grain rice, tomato paste, dried oregano, ground cinnamon (if using), 1 tsp salt and black pepper. Cook for 1 minute, stirring, then add the reserved tomato pulp and 100 ml of the hot vegetable broth. Simmer for 3–4 minutes until the liquid is mostly absorbed but the rice is still chalky in the centre. Stir in the fresh parsley and mint, then taste and adjust salt.
Fill the hollowed tomatoes and peppers about three-quarters full with the rice mixture, leaving room for the rice to expand. Do not pack it down. Replace the reserved lids.
Arrange the stuffed vegetables upright in a deep baking dish. Tuck the potato wedges into the gaps between them. Pour the remaining 150 ml hot vegetable broth and the remaining 30 ml olive oil around the base of the dish. If the tomatoes taste acidic, sprinkle the sugar over the vegetables.
Cover the dish tightly with foil and bake for 50 minutes. Remove the foil, baste the vegetables and potatoes with the pan juices, and bake uncovered for another 20–25 minutes until the potatoes are golden and a knife slides easily into the rice through the side of a pepper.
Let the gemista rest for 10 minutes before serving so the rice settles. Serve warm or at room temperature with the pan juices spooned over.
Kitchen notes
Kitchen notes
- The most common mistake is overfilling the vegetables: the rice nearly doubles in volume as it absorbs liquid, so fill only three-quarters full or the tops will burst off.
- Do not skip the initial partial cooking of the rice in step 4. Raw rice stuffed directly into the vegetables often stays crunchy even after a long bake.
- Keep the stuffed vegetables snug in the dish and add enough broth to come about 1 cm up the sides; this steam is what cooks the rice through.
- If your tomatoes are very juicy, reduce the tomato pulp slightly in the pan before mixing it with the rice, otherwise the filling turns soupy.
Substitutions
- short-grain rice→medium-grain rice or arborio rice
- green bell peppers→red or yellow bell peppers, or small zucchini hollowed out
- vegetable broth→water plus an extra 1 tbsp tomato paste
- fresh mint→dried mint, using 1 tsp
Storage & reheating
Cool leftovers completely, then store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. The flavours improve after a day. Reheat covered in a 180°C oven for 15-20 minutes, or in the microwave in 1-minute bursts until steaming; add a splash of water or broth if the rice looks dry. Gemista freezes well for up to 2 months: freeze individual portions, thaw overnight in the fridge, and reheat covered at 180°C for 25 minutes.
FAQ
The questions we get asked most
Why is my stuffed pepper rice still crunchy after baking?
The rice was either not partially cooked before stuffing or the dish did not have enough liquid and steam. Next time, simmer the rice with the tomato pulp and broth for 3-4 minutes until the liquid is absorbed, and add broth to a depth of about 1 cm in the baking dish. Keep the foil on for the first 50 minutes so the steam can penetrate the filling.
Can I make gemista ahead of time?
Yes, assemble the stuffed vegetables up to 24 hours in advance, cover the dish and refrigerate. Add the broth just before baking, then bake as directed, adding 10 minutes to the covered stage because the dish starts cold. You can also bake it fully a day ahead and reheat it covered at 180°C for 20 minutes.
Can I use brown rice instead of short-grain rice?
Brown rice works but needs more liquid and time. Parboil it for 10 minutes before mixing with the tomato pulp, and add an extra 100 ml broth to the baking dish. Expect the covered baking stage to take about 20 minutes longer, and check that the rice is tender before uncovering.
How do I know when gemista is fully cooked?
The potatoes should be golden and a knife should slide into the rice through the side of a pepper with no resistance. The exposed rice on top will look moist but not wet, and the pan juices will have reduced and darkened. If the rice still feels firm, add a splash of hot broth, cover again and bake for 10 more minutes.
Can I add minced meat to the filling?
Yes, brown 250 g of minced beef or lamb with the onion and garlic before adding the rice, then reduce the broth in the dish by 50 ml. The rice will absorb some fat from the meat, so the filling tastes richer and needs a little less olive oil. Increase the covered baking time by 10 minutes to ensure the meat is cooked through.
Why did my stuffed vegetables turn out watery?
Tomatoes release a lot of juice during baking, and if the dish was not uncovered for the final stage the liquid never evaporated. Drain the tomato pulp before mixing it into the rice, and always bake the last 20-25 minutes uncovered so the juices reduce. A wider baking dish also helps moisture escape faster.
Can I freeze leftover gemista?
Yes, freeze cooled portions in an airtight container for up to 2 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then reheat covered at 180°C for 25 minutes or until piping hot throughout. The potatoes soften slightly after freezing, but the flavour of the rice filling actually deepens.
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