Greek Stuffed Peppers
Gemista, the Greek summer dish: peppers roasted before they are filled, so they are sweet and collapsing rather than raw and squeaky, then packed with rice, feta, dill and pine nuts. The pre-roast is the step everyone skips.
Photograph credit: Farshirovannyi peretz by User:Zserghei · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
Photograph credit: Stuffed Peppers Florentine Close Up by Roundhere44 · CC0 · Wikimedia Commons
Greek Stuffed Peppers, Step by Step
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Heat the oven to 200°C / 400°F. Brush the pepper halves inside and out with 3 tablespoons of the oil and season with 1 teaspoon of the salt.
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Lay them cut side down in a large roasting dish and roast 25 minutes, until slumped and blistered.
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Meanwhile cook the rice in salted water for 10 minutes only — it should be distinctly underdone, because it will finish in the peppers. Drain.
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At the same time, heat the 2 tablespoons of oil and cook the onion 8 minutes, then the garlic, oregano and cinnamon for 1 minute.
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Add the tomatoes and simmer 8 minutes until thick, then fold in the rice, pine nuts, raisins, feta, herbs, the remaining salt and the pepper.
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Turn the roasted pepper halves cut side up, pour the 100 ml of water into the base of the dish, and pack the filling into each one, mounding it.
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Scatter the extra feta over and drizzle with the last tablespoon of oil.
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Bake 25 minutes, until the tops are browned and the filling is piping hot.
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Rest 10 minutes before serving; they are as good warm as hot.
Related guide: Choosing rice.
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Notes for Getting It Right
- Roast the peppers first. A stuffed raw pepper is squeaky and watery under a perfectly good filling.
- Underdo the rice by five minutes. It drinks the tomato as it bakes.
- Cut through the stem rather than round the top — the halves hold more and sit flat.
Swaps and Variations
- An eighth of a teaspoon of garlic powder per clove is the stand-in usually given when you are out of fresh garlic; it will not brown the same way, and it burns easily, so add it with the liquid.
- Fresh herbs work in place of the dried oregano at roughly three times the quantity — a teaspoon of dried is about a tablespoon of fresh, chopped.
What to Serve with Greek Stuffed Peppers
- A green salad with lemon
- Flatbread and yoghurt
- A glass of Assyrtiko
Sides from the same cuisine on this site: Greek Fried Potatoes, Greek Lemon Potatoes.
Keeping and Reheating
Refrigerated for 4 days. Reheat covered at 180°C / 356°F for 20 minutes. They freeze filled and unbaked for 2 months.
Greek Stuffed Peppers Nutrition Facts
Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list with USDA FoodData Central figures (SR Legacy). A calculation, not a laboratory analysis: brands, cuts and how you measure change the real numbers. How the figures are worked out.
Your notes on this recipe
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Compiled by Turab
Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked. Found a mistake? Tell us.
First published ; last changed .
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