Gemista
Ingredients
12-14 Large ripe tomatoes
8-10 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 onions, finely chopped
8 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 tin chopped tomatoes
Sugar
3 cups long grain rice
3 tablespoons fresh dill, finely chopped
3 tablespoons fresh parsley, finely chopped
4 tablespoons fresh oregano, finely chopped
16oz Kefaklotyri or Pecorino Romano cheese, optional if you’re making it vegan
Salt and pepper
Preheat oven to 375°F
Cut the tops off the tomatoes, you want to cut the top right across under the stem part, save the tops. Using a small knife make small cut into the thicker flesh part, then use a spoon and scoop out the insides of the tomato flesh and place the flesh into a large bowl. You want to get as much of the flesh out as you can but make sure you do not puncture through the flesh. The more you get out the better the tomatoes will cook. The bowl with the tomato pulp will have a lot of chunks. As best as you can remove the part of the inside of the tomato that has the stem part on it. In a large pan arrange the tomatoes in a large pan, move them around till they fit nicely together. Season the insides of the tomatoes with salt and pepper.
Add the tomato insides to the blender, add 6 (maybe even 8) tablespoons of olive oil, the tomato paste, pinch of sugar and 1 teaspoon both salt & pepper. Blend the mixture till its a lovely puree. (I save the unused puree and use it for pasta sauce and make pasta and a few days later. Don’t be afraid if it being too much, it’s useful.)
Over large skillet add 3-4 tablespoons olive oil, when hot add the onions until they’re translucent. Stir in the garlic and the tin of tomatoes and a pinch of sugar. Saute till the liquid is gone. Add in the rice and the dill to the mixture and saute for about 2 minutes.
Add in the tomato puree mixture, till there’s a nice amount of liquid in there, you may not need all of it, maybe 3 cups worth, mix well. Season with salt and pepper. Let mixture simmer for about 10 minutes stirring occasionally, until the rice is halfway cooked and most of the liquid is gone.
While the rice is cooking, cube the cheese into small bite sized cubed pieces. If you like you can add a cube or two of cheese to the bottom of each tomato.
Remove rice mixture from stove and stir in the parsley and oregano, mix well. Add in the cubed cheese, and make sure to mix it well.
Fill each tomato with the rice, don’t fill the to the top, make sure you have enough rice to fill each tomato. If you have leftover rice go ahead and fill the rest of the tomatoes and around the sides of the tomatoes if you like and have extra you don’t want to waste. (You may likely have extra rice, I always add more to my recipe than others because in the past I’ve had issues with running out due to the size of the tomatoes. You may also hollow out and stuff a pepper or two if you like.) Top each tomato with the tops, it does not have to be perfect, just do the best you can to figure out which top is which.
Cover the pan with aluminum foil and bake for 40 minutes covered. Remove foil from pan and bake another 45 minutes till the tomatoes have a nice baked softness and the rice is fully cooked.
Let tomatoes rest 10-15 before serving. Gemista hold up nicely and at times can even be better the next day. They make the best leftovers. Serve with feta cheese.
