A light version of one of the most popular dishes around the world
Stuffed tomatoes fresh from the oven.
There are very few dishes that we find in many cultures around the world, and stuffed vegetables are truly everywhere. Throughout Europe and in other parts of the world, people have come up with the idea of stuffing vegetables and baking them, and what excites me most is that the description of this dish has been used as its name in various languages. What may vary, as is to be expected, is the choice of vegetable to stuff, and this, of course, depends on the season in which the recipe is prepared as well as the availability of local vegetables. The only thing that’s certain is that if it’s summer and the tomatoes are fragrant, stuffed tomatoes are one of the recipes I make often.
What I vividly remember from my childhood are the bags of vegetables that would come home from the farmers’ market, often containing peppers, zucchini, or even large tomatoes meant for stuffed vegetables. The most common recipe involved alternating layers of green peppers and tomatoes in a baking dish, and one of the most important decisions was how many peppers or tomatoes would end up on my plate. I admit that I used to complain if the stuffed vegetables were orphaned (ορφανά)—that's how this recipe is called in Greece if they have only rice instead of rice and ground meat—but I’ve learned to appreciate the recipe with just rice as long as it has the right herbs. This version is almost the same, except that since we’ve eaten a lot of ground meat this week, I decided to add a little chicken for protein. For a second, I thought of eating them without feta but then I remember my grandma saying:
So, are you just going to eat it without any feta?
TipPrep and cook time were measured at the original serving size — treat them as a starting point once you scale servings up or down.
Chicken · Vegetables · Rice · Main course · Baked
TipCheck off what you already have before you go shopping.
TipCheck off each step as you go and follow the recipe without losing your place.
Wash the tomatoes well, cut off their tops and set them aside.
Using a spoon, carefully scoop out the flesh of the tomatoes and place it in a bowl.
Finely chop the onion.
Heat a pan over medium heat with a little olive oil and, once hot, add the onion to turn golden.
Cut the chicken into small cubes and add it to the pan.
Once it's browned on all sides, add the rice and stir.
Deglaze with the wine and, once it has fully evaporated, remove from the heat.
Preheat the oven to 180°C on the convection setting and place the tomatoes in a baking dish.
Once the filling has cooled, add finely chopped parsley, season with salt and pepper and fill the tomatoes until their lids can close; if any filling is left over, spoon it around them in the dish.
Pour a little water into the dish, put the lids back on the tomatoes and cover with foil.
Bake covered for 45 minutes, remove the foil and bake for another 15 minutes.
Serving suggestion:Let the stuffed tomatoes cool, then serve with a little or a lot of feta.