Greek Stuffed Tomatoes
Introduction
This is a wonderful vegetarian dish.
Serves 6-12.
It's much better with your own home grown tomatoes off the vine. This is a variation on a dish that is served in the tavernas all through Greece.
Ingredients
- 12 large tomatoes
- 1 tbs soft brown (or castor) sugar
1/2 cup olive oil
- 1 large (red) onion very finely chopped
- 1 cup short or medium grain rice
- 2 tbs pine nuts (optional but recommended)
1/2 cup currants (not raisins or sultanas)
- 1 tbs tomato paste (use if you have to use supermarket tomatoes)
- 1 tbs chopped fresh mint
- 1 tbs chopped fresh parsley
- 1 cup water
- 1 tbs dried bread crumbs
- extra virgin olive oil for drizzling
- salt
Directions
Preheat the oven to 180oC
Cut a cap (about one cm thick at the thickest part) off the tomatoes from the non-stalk end - keep the caps - and scoop out the innards of the tomatoes with a teaspoon. Put the pulp in a sieve over a bowl. Allow the pulp to drain until it is needed. Work the pulp occasionly to drive as much of it as possible through the sieve. You wont get it all through, the seeds and some of the larger lumps of flesh will remain. Sprinkle the inside of the tomatoes with the sugar, salt and pepper.
Heat the oil in a deep frying pan (that has a lid) and gently saute the onions until they are soft and transparent. Add the rice and stir in with the onions and allow to cook for another two minutes or so.
Add the water to the tomato pulp and then add about a cup of this mixture to the pan along with the currants, pine nuts, mint and parsley. Add the tomato paste here if your are using supermarket tomatoes. Add some salt and pepper. Stir together and then allow to cook covered on a low heat for about 10 minutes until the rice is half cooked. Remove from the heat and allow to cool a bit.
Put the mixture into the hollowed out tomatoes until it reaches the top and no more. The mixture swells slightly as it cooks in the oven. Press down gently with the spoon as you fill them.
Put the filled tomatoes in an oiled oven proof dish; it's best if they are packed fairly tightly in the the dish. Put the caps back on, drizzle with the extra virigin olive oil and then sprinkle bread crumbs over the top. Pour the remaining water and pulp mixture round the tomatoes. Cook in the preheated oven for thirty minutes. Keep an eye on the dish and if the pulp dries out, add more water.
Allow to cool until warm (or to room temperature) and serve with olives, cubes of feta and/or blue cheese and a salad. They're also very good with cold roast pork.
Variations
The recipe scales well up or down.
The first time you make this, it's one of those dishes that makes you feel as if you need five hands, four legs and every bowl in the kitchen. But once you get the hang of it, it's actually quite straight forward and suprisingly quick to make. Trust me!
Check out Julie Biuso's website for her wonderful cookbooks.