Gemista, yemista, tomato farcies – there’s a grand Mediterranean tradition of filling summer vegetables with all sorts of stuffings and then baking them, slowly, in the oven until they sweeten and soften. The flavours meld into one another in that gorgeously rich way that only slow cooking brings about.
This is not a traditional recipe, it hails from no where in particular and is my version of delicious meals eaten in Greece, France and Italy. It’s one of those dishes made by families everywhere, a way of making the most of the abundance of the summer garden, using what’s to hand in the cupboards, left over bread, a little sausage, rice and woody, musky herbs. In that sense feel free, of course, to use this recipe as a guide only, adapt it to suit you and what you have on hand in your kitchen. If you’re vegetarian or vegan the tomatoes can of course be stuffed with the rice mixture too.
It takes time, but most of the prep can be done in advance, and once that’s done it looks after itself in the oven and is best with some resting time so that it is warm but not piping hot. It’s the perfect meal to celebrate the end of summer. A glass of wine is an obligatory addition and perhaps some green salad with a punchy mustard dressing, and an elasticated waistband and plenty of time to digest.
Ingredients
*For the tomato sauce
Olive oil
2 cloves of garlic crushed
1 tbsp dried oregano
2 large tins of plum tomatoes
1 tbsp Red wine vinegar
*For the tomato farcies
6 large, round tomatoes, ripe but firm
1 onion finely chopped
1 clove of garlic crushed
400g sausage meat or minced pork (here in France I buy chair à saucisse nature – which is a plain sausage meat, but it’s much meatier and slightly coarser than the sausage meat common in the UK and perhaps elsewhere. You could simply use minced pork or use a mixture of minced pork and good sausage meat)
1 egg
4 handfuls of fresh breadcrumbs
The zest of 1 lemon
1 tbsp herbs de Provence
2 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp freshly ground fennel seeds
*For the stuffed peppers
7 medium peppers (6 to stuff, one diced for the filling)
1 onion, finely chopped
1 clove of garlic, crushed
1 courgette, finely chopped
1/2 an aubergine, finely diced
2 tsp herbs de Provence
1 tsp dried oregano
The insides of the tomatoes from the tomato farcies (or half a can of chopped tinned tomatoes)
12 fl oz of rice (I use basmati and measure it out in the measuring jug)
1 vegetable stock cube
Method
Begin with the tomato sauce. Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a large saucepan and add the garlic and oregano, stir and when they are fragrant pour in the tomatoes. Bring to a simmer and leave to cook on the back of the stove, stirring occasionally while you prepare the rest of the vegetables.
For the tomatoes
Cut the tops off of the tomatoes, making sure you leave a decent sized lid. Use a dessert spoon to scoop out the flesh, juice and seeds from each tomato and set this aside in a bowl. Sprinkle the inside or each tomato with salt and sit them in a baking dish.
Fry the onion and garlic gently in a little olive oil until soft and sweet and allow to cool slightly. Place in a bowl with the sausage meat, egg, breadcrumbs, lemon zest, herbs de Provence, oregano, freshly ground fennel seeds and plenty of salt and pepper. Use your hands to mix this all together thoroughly. If you like you can check the seasoning by frying off a little of the mixture and making adjustments before stuffing your tomatoes.
Once you’re happy, pack each tomato with a ball of the sausage mixture, packing it in firmly and leaving it a little proud of the the top, place the lids on top and squash down a little. The tomatoes will shrink slightly in cooking and the sausage mixture will absorb some of the moisture from the tomatoes. Set aside. If you have leftover filling roll into meatballs and cook the next day with pasta.
For the peppers
Cut the the tops off of the peppers, leaving the stalks attached. Scoop out and discard the seeds and white membranes and season with salt and a drizzle of olive oil. Fry the onion and garlic in olive oil in a large frying pan until soft and sweet, then add the other diced vegetables and fry gently until softened and golden. Season with salt and pepper and the herbs de Provence and oregano.
Add the rice and stir to coat in the oil and vegetable juices. Chop up the flesh from the insides of the tomato that used for the farcies (or some chopped tinned tomatoes if you’re just making the peppers) and add this and the juice to the pan with the rice. Crumble in a vegetable stock cube and add enough freshly boiled water to just cover the rice mixture. Allow to simmer for five minutes – at this point the rice should still be quite firm and the mixture quite loose.
Spoon the rice mixture into the hollowed out peppers, fill them almost to the top and then pop the lids back on. Nestle them in a baking dish – the tomatoes and peppers can go in the same dish if you have one large enough.
Pre-heat the oven to 200c/400f/gas 6
To finish the sauce
The sauce should have thickened and reduce by now. Crush any still whole tomatoes into the side of the pan with a wooden spoon until you have a chunky sauce. Season with salt and pepper, the red wine vinegar and a good glug of olive oil. I sometimes add a pinch of sugar depending on how sweet the tinned tomatoes are – it should be a rich tomato sauce with just a slight acidity from the tomatoes and vinegar.
Spoon the sauce around the bottom of the peppers and tomatoes, there should be plenty for the two dishes. Drizzle everything with olive oil.
Put both dishes in the oven at 200c/400f/gas 6 for 30 mins, then turn the oven down 160c/320f/gas 3 for 1 hour. Keep an eye on the tomato sauce, if it evaporates too much you can add a little water.
The stuffed vegetables should be charred and softened, this isn’t an upright, fancy dish; the uglier it looks generally the tastier it is. Allow to cool slightly before eating – one pepper and one tomato per person. Crusty bread, a little salad and good wine on the side.
