Beautifully ripe end of season tomatoes with their low acid and natural sweetness turn this somewhat humble, family style dish into a flavour packed meal. Stuffed tomatoes are called ‘yemista’ in Greek and this dish features regularly as one of Mama’s favourites.
Mama’s version of this classic Greek dish reveals her Zakynthian palate. You won’t find any raisins, pine nuts or minced meat here, as you may in other regional variations of this dish. Sophia’s yemista is packed with rice and herbs, mainly shallots (scallions) and parsley with just a touch of fresh mint. Mama warns not to add garlic to this dish and suggests that you can also stuff other end of summer vegetables such as eggplants, green peppers or zucchini if they take your fancy. Ripe tomatoes, however, remain Mama’s first and only true love for yemista.
Mama's stuffed tomatoes (ντομάτες γεμιστές)
Ingredients
- 12 round tomatoes firm to the touch
- 2 wine glasses fresh spring onions white bulb only, finely chopped
- 2 wine glasses of Greek bonnet or kitrino rice
- 2 wine glasses of EVOO
- 2 bunches of parsley finely chopped
- 5-6 mint leaves finely chopped
- 12 tsp of breadcrumbs
- Ma's chilli water to taste (see my basics page for the recipe)
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Optional: small new season potatoes (cleaned and peeled) to fill the gaps in the baking pan.
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 180C. Clean the tomatoes well. Slice the top of each tomato and reserve. Next, scoop out the centre of each tomato and place the pulp and juice in a seperate bowl. Sprinkle the tomato shells with a little salt and place upside down in a dish to drain off the excess juice.
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Soak the rice in warm water for 10 minutes and then drain under cold running water to remove excess starch. Drain well, set aside.
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Put the tomato pulp and juice through a food mill to make a puree. Set aside.
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Prepare the filling. Place a fry pan on medium heat. Sauté the chopped onion in the EVOO until fragrant, next add the rice and coat in the fragrant oil. When the rice is lightly toasted, add the chopped parsley and mix well to combine. Add the fresh tomato puree and allow to cook until all the liquid is absorbed by the rice. Season well and add the chilli puree, if using. Take off the heat and allow the filling to cool slightly, around 10 minutes.
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Grease a baking dish. Fill the tomatoes with the rice mixture, leaving a little space for the rice to expand. Add their tops and place in the baking dish.. Add the potatoes if using. Place a little water in the base of the baking dish and drizzle with oil. Add 1 teaspoon of breadcrumbs to each tomato top. Bake uncovered for 1 hour or until the tops are golden and the tomatoes are starting to wrinkle and caramelise, but not completely collapsed. Serve at room temperature.
