Cooking with Tomatoes & Eggplants - Blue Zone Style

By Emmy Ingham MS, RD - your resident Garden Manager

August is a great time because your gardening efforts are all paying off. There's noting more rewarding than harvesting what you grew and making something delicious out of it. This traditional Greek recipe will make use of those lovely tomatoes and eggplants waiting to be picked!

GEMISTA

(Greek stuffed Tomatoes and Eggplant with rice)

Serves 4-5

Ingredients

• 4-5 tomatoes

• 2 eggplants

• 3-4 potatoes, cut into wedges

• 1 large red onion, finely chopped

• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

• 1 to 1 1/2 cups rice

• a small bunch of parsley, chopped

• a small bunch of fresh mint, chopped

• a small bunch of fresh fennel, chopped

• salt and freshly ground pepper

• 2-3 tbsp olive oil
  

Instructions

1. To prepare this delicious Greek stuffed tomato recipe, start by preparing your vegetables. Slice off the top of the tomatoes. Using a spoon remove the flesh and juices of the tomatoes and keep it in a bowl. Slice off the top of the eggplants and remove the flesh, using a spoon. Cut the flesh of the eggplants in small cubes and set aside, as you will use them later for the filling.

2. Place the hollowed out vegetables in a large baking pan. Try to leave the vegetables with as little flesh as possible, but be careful not to poke through their skin. Season the empty vegetables with a pinch of salt and pepper.

3. Prepare the filling for the Gemista. In a saucepan add some olive oil and sauté the onion, until translucent. Add the flesh of the eggplants (chopped) and the chopped garlic and sauté, until softened. Add the rice and continue sautéing. Pour in chopped tomatoes and chopped herbs. Add water as necessary and season with salt and pepper. Let the filling come to a boil and simmer for several minutes.

4. Pull the filling off the stove and fill vegetables 3/4 cull and cover with their “top”.

5. Add quartered potatoes to the baking pan with the rest of the vegetables. Strain the rest of the tomato filling to get the juice and pour over the vegetables. 

6. Bake for around an hour at 350 degrees. Enjoy with some salty feta atop.