RataterraFirst edition in progress
My atlas

Searches names, synonyms and regional names, with or without accents.

    Explore the world · Recipe · Greece · Reference page

    Gemista

    γεμιστά (gemistá)

    Tomatoes and peppers hollowed out and filled with rice cooked with grated courgette and aubergine, pine nuts, raisins, parsley and mint, then baked slowly in olive oil and grated tomato. A Greek summer dish, here in Argiro Barbarigou's vegetarian version.

    Ink and watercolor illustration of a roasted green pepper and red tomato stuffed with rice, herbs, small pine nuts and raisins, with their lids ajar.
    Editorial illustration of the documented recipe; not a photograph of a kitchen-tested result.
    Servings
    5
    Preparation
    20 min
    Cooking
    1 h 30
    Total
    1 h 50
    Difficulty
    Moderate

    Equipment

    • Sharp knife and spoon for hollowing
    • Food processor or blender
    • Deep frying pan
    • Baking dish that holds the vegetables snugly; aluminium foil
    Servings5

    Ingredients

    • The vegetables

    • The stuffing

    • The sauce

    Shopping list

    Method

    1. Heat the oven to 180 °C. Cut a slice off the top of each tomato and keep it as a lid. Spoon out the flesh into a bowl, leaving enough on the sides that the tomato does not split in the oven. Pulse the flesh in a food processor.

    2. Cut the top off each pepper (keep it as a lid) and remove the seeds and white fibres.

    3. Heat ½ cup (120 ml) of olive oil in a deep frying pan and soften the onion over a medium heat for a few minutes, until transparent. Stir in the grated courgette and aubergine and let them bubble for a few minutes until they begin to soften.

      Timer · 6 min6:00

    4. Add the rice and the pulsed tomato flesh and season. Pour in the water, bring to the boil and cook for 5 minutes. The stuffing should stay quite juicy, almost runny.

      Why The rice is only part-cooked: it finishes in the oven, absorbing the juices inside the vegetables.

      Timer · 5 min5:00

    5. Stir in the pine nuts, raisins, parsley and mint.

    6. Fill the tomatoes and peppers about three-quarters full, put their lids on and stand them close together in the baking dish.

      Why The rice swells as it bakes; overfilled vegetables burst. Packed close, they hold each other upright.

    7. Mix the grated tomatoes with the remaining olive oil, season and pour over the vegetables. Cover with foil and bake for 1 hour 15 minutes, removing the foil after the first 30 minutes.

      Why Covered, the rice cooks in steam; uncovered, the tops brown and the sauce reduces.

      Timer · 1 h 1575:00

    To drink & serve with

    • Editorial suggestion: with feta and crusty bread, as is common in Greece.

    Substitutions

    • Aubergine or courgette → Use more of the other; both are there for moisture and body.
    • Pine nuts and raisins → Leave them out; many Greek families use minced meat in the filling instead (then cook it through).

    Common mistakes

    • Scooping the tomatoes too thin: they collapse in the oven.
    • Making the stuffing dry: the rice needs juice to cook in the oven.
    • Leaving the foil on for the whole time: the tops stay pale and the sauce watery.

    Storage & reheating

    Barbarigou notes that some say it tastes even better the next day. Because it contains rice, cool it quickly (within an hour if you can), refrigerate, eat within a day and reheat only once, until steaming hot (UK FSA).

    Safety

    Contains none of the 14 EU major allergens as written; pine nuts are seeds and are not on the EU list, but some people with tree-nut allergies react to them. Cooked rice can carry Bacillus cereus spores: cool and reheat with care.

    Allergens

    None

    Check labels: stock, bacon and sauces can contain further allergens.

    Dietary

    vegan

    Filled with summer

    Gemista (also written yemista) means 'filled' in Greek, and the dish is exactly that: the vegetables of a Greek summer, tomatoes and peppers, emptied and refilled with rice. Argiro Barbarigou's version in the newspaper To Vima is vegetarian, sweetened with raisins, enriched with pine nuts and scented with parsley and spearmint. Her recipe also carries the familiar remark that some say gemista taste even better the next day.

    [1]

    Nothing wasted

    The tomato flesh that comes out of the shells goes back in: pulsed, it cooks with the rice and grated vegetables into a loose, juicy stuffing that is only part-cooked when the vegetables are filled. More grated tomato and a large amount of olive oil are poured over before baking, and the dish spends half an hour under foil and three-quarters of an hour uncovered.

    [1]

    How it connects

    Wine region

    Recipe

    Continue exploring