Serves: 6 Preparation time: 30m Baking time: 1h 50m Ready in: 2h 20m

Tomatoes and peppers stuffed with a mixture of rice, ground beef, herbs and chopped vegetables for extra flavor.

Ingredients

6 ripe tomatoes, medium
6 green peppers suitable for stuffing
2 onions, chopped
1 horn pepper, cubed
1 small zucchini, grated
250g. ground beef
1 carrot, grated
1½ cup long grain white rice
1 cup chopped parsley
4 tablespoons chopped mint
3 large potatoes, peeled, quartered
1 cup olive oil
5-6 tablespoons breadcrumbs
Sugar
Salt and pepper

Preparation method

Step 1

Preheat oven to 180 ° C. Wash the tomatoes and slice the tops off, setting them aside. Using a spoon, scoop out the tomato flesh. Dice half the quantity and process the rest in a food processor until you have a chucky liquid.

Step 2

Cut the tops off the peppers and set aside. Carefully remove and discard the seeds. Place the peppers for 2 minutes in boiling water to soften them and drain well.

Step 3

Heat half the oil in a large deep skillet and sauté the onions along with the carrot, the pepper and the zucchini. Add the ground beef and, after mixing with the rest of the ingredients add the rice, the parsley, the mint, the salt and the pepper. Add the diced tomatoes, a little extra sugar and some more salt and pepper. Allow the stuffing to reach a boil and remove the skillet from heat.

Step 4

Place the tomatoes and peppers in a baking dish and sprinkle the inside with a little salt and a little sugar. Fill them with the stuffing you just prepared about 3/4 full and replace their “caps”.

Step 5

Salt and pepper the potatoes and place them between the tomatoes and peppers. Mix the pureed tomatoes with the remaining olive oil, salt, pepper and pour over the stuffed vegetables. Add water as necessary so that the fluid level reaches the two centimeters.

Step 6

Sprinkle the yemista with breadcrumbs, cover the dish with foil and bake in the preheated oven for 1½ hour, until the rice is cooked.
The uncover the dish and bake for a little longer, until the top is crisp.

Source: Olive magazine
Chef: Ioanna Stamoulou