Roasted stuffed bell peppers with rice and minced meat (Gemista)
This is a traditional summer dish that can be customised around the world depending on the vegetables available.
Roasted stuffed bell peppers with rice and minced meat
Ingredients
- 2 cups long grain rice
- 6 bell peppers red, yellow, or/and green
- 1 eggplant
- 4 potatoes medium size
- 700 grams minced meat veal or beef without additives
- 1 onion
- ,25 cup olive oil extra virgin
- 0,5 glass white wine
- 2 teaspoons sea salt
- black pepper freshly ground
herbs
- 0,5 teaspoon thyme dried (or a few freshly chopped leaves)
- 0,5 teaspoon parsley dried (or a few freshly chopped leaves)
- 0,5 teaspoon basil dried (or a few freshly chopped leaves)
- sweet paprika
Instructions
- First, it is important to select fresh vegetables and wash them carefully. You may prefer to choose bio/organic since they tend to have fewer or less toxic pesticides (in theory).
- Cut off the top of the bell peppers and keep them aside. Remove the seeds. Cut off the tops of the tomatoes, remove the pulp and keep it apart. Cut the eggplant in two pieces, scoop out the center and keep it apart.
- Cut the scooped-out centre of the eggplant as well as the onion in small pieces.
- In a pan add the olive oil, the sliced onion and the eggplant’s centre pieces. Cook until the eggplant pieces get a golden colour and become soft.
- Then, add the minced meat, all the herbs, the tomato juice (pulp) and cook until the minced meat changes colour. Then add the sea salt, the ground black pepper and the white wine. Continue cooking for 10 minutes.
- In the pan add 2 glasses of water (about 500ml) and stir. Bring to boil and then add the rice. Reduce the heat to low temperatures and cook for about 10 minutes. Then remove the pan from the heat. This mix is actually the stuffing of the vegetables.
- Fill the bell peppers, the tomatoes and the eggplant with the mixture. Place the stuffed vegetables in a pyrex or oven pan either upside down without their tops or alternatively replace their tops to avoid the mix getting out during cooking. Chop the potatoes and add them in the pyrex around the peppers. Add water until the top of the pyrex. Drizzle a little bit of olive oil over the stuffed peppers. Place on the middle rack of the oven and bake at 200°C for about 50-60 minutes (depending on the power of your oven).
- Your meal is ready!
- Serve and optionally accompany with feta cheese or Greek yogurt. Bon Apétit!
