Yemista Me Ryzi Greek Stuffed Vegetables Vegetarian Recipes

YEMISTA - GREEK STUFFED VEGETABLES WITH RICE

Steps:

• Using a box grater, grate the tomato insides along with the ripe tomato for the filling into a large mixing bowl.
• Add the remaining ingredients for the filling, season with salt and pepper and combine well. Set aside.
• Preheat oven to 446 °F / 230°C.
• Rinse and prepare all the veggies. Cut off the ends of the zucchinis and peppers.
• Slice off the top of each vegetable about 1-2 cm.
• With a pointy tablespoon scoop of the tomato insides and set aside.
• Remove any seeds and white membranes from the peppers leaving their insides clean.
• Using a melon baller or a sharp knife, remove most of the inside flesh of the zucchinis and eggplants and discard it. Leave a 1-2cm thick wall lining on the veggies.
• Place all veggies in a large pan leaving enough space around them to place the potatoes.
• Using a spoon fill each vegetable completely and place its top back on.
• Add the potatoes all around the veggies to hold them in place.
• Add just a drop of water in order to cover the bottom of the pan.
• Pour the olive oil and season the veggies and potatoes with salt and pepper.
• Cook for about 1 hour. After the first 20-25 minutes of baking, cover the pan with aluminum foil to prevent veggies from burning on top.

YEMISTA GREEK STUFFED PEPPERS AND TOMATOES

Steps:

• Set the oven to 180° C.
• Wash tomatoes and peppers well. Cut about 1-2 cm off each pepper and tomato and set the tops aside. Make sure you don't cut the peppers too close to the base of the stalk as it may come loose and you want the tops left intact to keep the filling nice and moist.
• Using a sharp-edged spoon, scoop the inside of the tomatoes, leaving the outer walls intact. Save the scooped-out tomato flesh.
• Deseed the peppers, breaking the white membranes with your fingers or a small knife.
• Arrange the hollowed-out tomatoes and peppers snugly on a baking tray (or trays, I had to use two to fit them all in).
• Season the inside of each vegetable with a pinch of salt, sugar and pepper.
• Blend or finely dice the insides of the tomatoes to add them to the rice filling.
• Mix all of the filling ingredients together with the blended tomato flesh and olive oil.
• Spoon the filling into the vegetables, but be sure not to overfill - the mixture should be roughly level with the cut so that there is room for expansion under the tops. Give the mixture a good stir between filling each vegetable so that you distribute the liquid that drops to the bottom evenly between all vegetables. Put the tops back on.
• In a mixing jug, combine all of the ingredients for the sauce. Pour the sauce on the bottom of the tray, in amongst the stuffed vegetables.
• Put the baking tray (or trays) into an oven. After about 1 hour, protect the tops from burning by wrapping a piece of aluminium foil over them. Continue baking for another 30 minutes, until the rice is cooked through. If the rice is still a little hard at the end of the cooking time, leave the veggies in a warm (switched off) oven for another 30 minutes to finish off cooking.
• Traditionally, yemista is served at room temperature rather than warm, so allow it to cool down before eating. They're best enjoyed with a simple green salad (I use Romaine lettuce, spring onions and cucumber) and some crusty bread.

GEMISTA RECIPE (GREEK STUFFED TOMATOES AND PEPPERS WITH RICE)

Steps:

• Slice off the top of the tomatoes. Using a spoon remove the flesh of the tomatoes and keep it in a bowl. (The flesh of the tomatoes will be the base for the tomato sauce for the Gemista.) Slice off the top of the eggplants and remove the flesh, using a spoon. Cut the flesh of the eggplants in small cubes and set aside, as you will use them later for the filling of the Gemista. Slice off the top of the peppers and remove the seeds and white parts from the inside.
• Place the empty vegetables on a large baking tray. Try to leave the vegetables with as little flesh as possible, but be careful not to poke through their skin. Season the empty vegetables with a pinch of salt and sugar and add a little butter on the bottom of each one.
• In a blender add the flesh of the tomatoes, 5-6 tbsps olive oil, the tomato paste, sugar, season with salt and pepper and mix to combine. Set aside.
• . In a saucepan add some olive oil and sauté the onions, until translucent. Chop the zucchini in small cubes, add in the saucepan and sauté for one more minute. At the end add the flesh of the eggplants (chopped) and the chopped garlic and sauté, until softened. Add the rice and continue sautéing, unit it becomes transculent. Pour in 1 tin chopped tomatoes, 2 cups of water and season with salt and pepper. Let the filling come to a boil. After 5 minutes the stuffing is ready. It doesn't need to cook throughout as it will continue cooking in the oven. Remove the pan from the stove and stir in the fresh herbs and taste and season with some more salt and pepper if needed.
• If you prefer your gemista spiced up with some meat, try sizzling 250grams (8.8oz) of ground beef with the onions in the step above. Once the beef juices have been absorbed and the meat is done, chop the zucchini in small cubes, add in the saucepan and sauté for one more minute. At the end add the flesh of the eggplants (chopped) and the chopped garlic and sauté, until softened. Add the rice and continue sautéing, until it becomes transculent. Pour in 1 tin chopped tomatoes, 2 cups of water and season with salt and pepper. Let the filling come to a boil. After 5 minutes the stuffing is ready. Remove the pan from the stove and stir in the fresh herbs and taste and season with some more salt and pepper if needed.
• Peel and chop your potatoes in bite-sized chunks.
• . Spoon the filling inside the empty vegetables, filling them up by about 2/3rds of the way up. The filling will expand a bit when cooking! Add your potatoes, spreading them out in between the vegetables. Season with salt and pepper. Finally spoon the filling liquids from step 4 and your sauce from step 3 inside the vegetables until full and pour the remaining in the baking tray. Cover the vegetables with their lids and add 3 cups of water in your baking tray
• Cover the Gemista with aluminium foil and bake in preheated oven at 180C / 350F for 60-75 minutes. Halfway through cooking time, remove the aluminium foil and bake until nicely coloured.
• The Gemista are equally delicious, served either warm or even straight out of the fridge. Just pair them with some salty feta cheese and enjoy!

YEMISTA ME RYZI - GREEK STUFFED VEGETABLES (VEGETARIAN)

Steps:

• Wash all vegetables well, and peel the potato. Take a large bowl & put on the side to collect the flesh from the veggies.
• Cut a cap off the top of tomatoes. Using a teaspoon, scoop out tomato pulp and put in a bowl. Set tomatoes and caps aside.
• Bell peppers: Cut a cap off the top of the peppers, scoop out seeds, and rinse well. Set peppers and caps aside.
• Potato: cut a thick slice off the potato lengthwise. Scoop out interior of potato and put in the bowl with the other vegetables, leaving a 1/8 inch shell. Set potato and top aside.
• Eggplants: cut off the top with stem. Using a spoon, scoop out eggplant pulp and add to bowl with other vegetables. Set eggplants and tops aside.
• Zucchini: trim tops of the 5 large zucchini, and using a spoon handle, scoop out zucchini pulp and add to bowl. Set zucchini and tops aside. Cut the small zucchini into 8 slices and set aside.
• Using a vegetable grater (or the large grate on a cheese grater), grate all the pulp that was scooped out from the vegetables, as well as the tops of the zucchini and eggplant, and place in a large bowl.
• Wash the rice, and add to the bowl. Add grated onion, parsley, salt, pepper, and all but 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Mix well. The stuffing mix will be soupy.
• Using a teaspoon, fill the vegetables to within 1/2 inch of the top. The rice will expand when cooked so take care not to overfill. Place caps on top, using the zucchini slices for the eggplant and zucchini.
• Place the vegetables in a 14 x 11 inch (or equivalent) baking or roasting pan. The tomatoes should be placed upright, and the other vegetables should be placed on their sides. They should fit snugly in the pan.
• There will be a little oil left in the bottom of the bowl. Add 3 tablespoons of water and pour the mixture into the pan with the vegetables. Drizzle the vegetables with the remaining olive oil (2 tablespoons).
• Place vegetables on the second-lowest position (below the middle) in a cold oven and heat to 480F (250C). When the liquid starts to boil (about 10-15 minutes), reduce heat to 355F (180C) and cook for one hour.
• Allow the vegetables to sit for 20 minutes before serving. Stuffed vegetables are served warm or at room temperature and are excellent the second day.

MUM'S YEMISTA (GREEK STUFFED VEGETABLES WITH RICE)

Steps:

• Cut off tops of tomatoes (retain them) and scoop out the pulp (retaining as well). Cut off tops of peppers and remove seeds (retain tops). Cut lengthwise the eggplants and with a spoon scoop out the pulp retaining as well. Cut the end of zucchini and also scoop out the pulp, retaining.
• Place the vegetables in a pan packed closely but not squashed.
• Take the pulp of all the vegetables and process it until pureed. Add in a bowl the rice,the vegetable puree, half of the olive oil, the garlic, the onion, the parsley, the spearmint, the salt and pepper. Mix using a spoon.
• Stuff all the vegetables and place the tops of tomatoes and peppers.
• Cut the potatoes to byte pieces and spread them between the vegetables.
• Sprinkle the breadcrumbs, salt again the vegetables and add the rest of olive oil. Combine 1 cup of water.
• Bake in a preheated oven at 375°F (180°C) for approx 1.5 hour.
• If you have leftover filling, add in the pan and put on the top some diced tomato. Its the best! I usually make more filling in order to have many plain rice!