Gemista (or yemista) are traditional Greek stuffed vegetables. We hollow out tomatoes and capsicum and replace with a rice and vegetable stuffing. We surround the gemista with chunked potatoes and zucchini and bake for an hour or so. The gemista will be plump and meltingly soft. This ugly-delicious dish is Greek food personified!
Gemista (pronounced ye-meesta) is the epitome of everything that's good (and healthy) about Mediterranean food. It contains fresh vegetables, rice, herbs ….and (lots of) olive oil. Please don't try and hold back with the oil. Its abundance here is paramount to achieving soft, delicious, flavoursome gemista.
This dish ticks lots of boxes:
- fun and easy to prepare - no special tools needed
- one pot meal - all the cooking happens in the oven
- best at room temperature
- better eaten a day or two after making
- can make ahead and throw in the oven when needed
- reheats easily, without compromise to texture or flavour
The quantity suggested here serves from 3 to 12 people. Three people would be a generous main course, assuming a whole capsicum and a whole tomato each. Twelve people would be a side dish of half a tomato or capsicum each.
This dish happens to be vegan and gluten-free. Apart from tasting delicious, this fact makes it a dish worth having in your wheelhouse. It is substantial enough to be a meal in its own right. Its soft richness works exceptionally well with a Greek salad. Salty feta cheese, fresh acidic tomatoes and crunchy cucumber contrast perfectly. You could serve it as part of a Greek feast, with other classics such as lamb shoulder or moussaka.
🥘 Ingredients
Try to find capsicum and tomatoes that are even-sized, for consistent portioning. It's not the end of the world if there is some variation though; it will still cook fine and 'work'. I've suggested weights for the tomatoes and capsicums that will make emptying and filling them easy. This would be quite fiddly if you use smaller veg. The amount of filling is perfect for stuffing 3 capsicums (we chop up the fourth) and 3 tomatoes.
Capsicum/bell peppers - I started off using green capsicums for the colour contrast against the tomatoes (as shown in the photos). However, I now use red because I prefer their sweeter flavour.
Potato - I've found that ordinary brushed potatoes (Sebago in Australia) work well here. It's a versatile all-rounder that softens inside and develops a nice golden exterior when roasted.
Long-grain rice - gemista is typically made with ordinary long-grain rice (not basmati or jasmine, which are specific varieties). The packet will just say 'long-grain rice'. A surprisingly small amount (100g) goes far here. There is no need to rinse or precook the rice.
Lemon juice - important to spritz over finished dish to add a pop of zing and freshness.
Olive oil - this dish is unapologetically oily. Don't hold back and use a good quality extra virgin olive oil.
🔪 Instructions
This is a very satisfying dish to prepare. We waste nothing - we scoop out the tomato flesh….but add it back again. We use the zucchini and the potato two ways. Both are finely chopped for the filling and roughly chunked to surround the gemista. We stuff three of the capsicum and finely chop the fourth. The recipe sounds complex, but trust me - follow the steps in the recipe card below and it will be a breeze. Prep takes about 35 minutes.
Use a tablespoon with a thin sharp edge to scoop out tomato/capsicum contents. It's handy for cutting through the membranes without piercing the skin. Cup the capsicums and tomatoes in the palm of your non-dominant hand and scoop with the other.
We make the filling with a mix of rice, tomato flesh, grated potato and zucchini, chopped capsicum, tomato puree, salt and herbs.
We make our vegetable 'bowls', prepare our filling and chunk up our other veg to dot around the gemista. Now we only have to assemble our dish for the oven. Fill the veg loosely, almost to the top; don't overfill or pack down. The rice will swell and grow, pushing the vegetable caps up a bit.
We pour a little water around the gemista (not on top) to help create a flavoursome stock. This acts as a braise for the potatoes and zucchini and creates steam to cook the rice. We cover the dish with foil and bake for an hour or so, until the rice is cooked all the way and the potatoes are very soft. We then remove the foil and continue baking for around 30 minutes to allow the liquid to reduce and for the veg to take on some colour and roasty flavours.
📖 Recipe
Equipment
- Baking dish, about 20 x30 cm. You want all the stuffed veg to sit in a single layer, but still be quite a snug fit. The capsicums can lie on their side if that works better.
Ingredients
- 4 red capsicums/bell peppers divided
- 3 large tomatoes
- 500 g zucchini approx. four small
- 500 g potatoes approx. 3 medium sized, divided
- salt
- Tablespoon dried mint
- large handful fresh parsley
- 30g tomato paste (2 tablespoons)
- 100 g ordinary long-grain rice (not basmati or jasmine) uncooked, no need to rinse
- Tablespoon lemon juice
- 180 g olive oil divided
- Tablespoon dried oregano
- 3 whole cloves
- lemon juice to serve
Instructions
- Preheat Oven - to 160°C
- Capsicums - put the ugliest capsicum (if they're not all beautiful!) aside (for chopping up later). Cut a small cap off the remaining three (the stem end) and keep these. Empty the inside carefully with a thin-edged spoon. You can discard these seeds and white membrane. Place the empty capsicums in the roasting pan.4 red capsicums/bell peppers
- Tomatoes - cut a small cap from all the tomatoes and reserve these. Scoop out the insides of the tomatoes with a spoon and tip out into a sieve set over a large bowl (don't discard anything). You'll use the seeds and flesh retained in the sieve, plus the tomato juice in the bowl underneath later. Place the empty tomatoes in the roasting pan.3 large tomatoes
- Zucchini & Reserved Capsicum - cut off a section of zucchini that is about a quarter of the total weight of zucchini. Peel and coarsely grate this into a large bowl (leave the rest of the zucchini unpeeled). Finely dice the 'ugly' capsicum from before and add this to the grated zucchini.500 g zucchini
- Fry Tomato Paste (optional) - heat a tablespoon of olive oil (taken from the rest) in a small frying pan. Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring often for a couple of minutes, until slightly thickened and darkened.30g tomato paste (2 tablespoons)
- Prepare Filling - peel all the potato. Cut a chunk that is about the size of an egg and coarsely grate this. Set the rest of the potatoes aside for later. Add the grated potato to the zucchini and capsicum bowl. Chop up the tomato pulp from the sieve and add this (along with any seeds). Add 2 teaspoons salt, freshly ground black pepper, mint, finely chopped parsley, the tomato paste, rice, lemon juice and HALF the olive oil (90ml/6 tablespoons, or a bit less if you already used some to fry the tomato paste in the previous optional step).500 g potatoessaltTablespoon dried mintlarge handful fresh parsley100 g ordinary long-grain rice (not basmati or jasmine)Tablespoon lemon juice180 g olive oil
- Stuff Vegetables - fill the tomatoes and capsicum with the rice mixture and top with their caps. Don't press down or over-fill. You want to be able to place the lids back on without seeing the rice, which will swell as it cooks and absorbs liquid. Keep any rice that's left over.
- Zucchini & Potatoes - to the tomato juice, add the remaining olive oil, the oregano, 1 teaspoon salt and some freshly ground black pepper and combine. Cut the remaining zucchini (unpeeled) into 1 cm slices and add to the bowl. Cut the rest of the potatoes into 3-4cm chunks and add these. Mix together well.180 g olive oilTablespoon dried oreganosalt
- Add Chopped Vegetables - dot the zucchini and potatoes around the stuffed capsicums and tomatoes. Add any rice mixture that's left over. You want everything to be a fairly snug fit. Stick the cloves into three of the potatoes. Drizzle over any remaining liquid from the bowl.3 whole cloves
- Covered Bake - add about a cup (250ml/g) of water in the corner of the dish (not over the veg) so that it leaves a layer beneath the contents. Sprinkle the veg with more salt and pepper. Cover with foil and bake for about an hour, until the rice is cooked and the potatoes are soft.
- Uncovered Bake - uncover the dish and continue to bake for another 25-35 minutes, until the veg is sitting in a concentrated tomato sauce, not swimming in watery juices. We want them to brown slightly too.lemon juice
- Rest - remove the cloves from the potato before serving. Allow to rest for at least 20 minutes at room temperature before serving. Spritz with lemon juice.
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