Cooking yemista invokes memories of my childhood at my Yiayia and Pappou’s house (Greek for grandmother and grandfather). Almost every weekend, my brothers and I would spend the night and relish my Yiayia’s tasty cooking from hand-rolled tiropitas to fakes to our beloved favorite yemista. During the 40-day fasting period before Easter (when Orthodox Greeks do not eat animal products i.e. basically vegan), my Yiayia would make the yemista without meat and add extra vegetable filling for texture. While most Greek restaurants today make stuffed peppers or tomatoes, we always loved the addition of stuffed zucchini and eggplant as using the inner “meat” from these vegetables also made the stuffing even heartier.
This recipe is extremely versatile and while I present the traditional recipe below, vegans may add ground mushroom, quorn, or tempeh instead of meat. Athletes looking to increase protein intake may use ground turkey and quinoa in substitute of ground meat and rice. Individuals on keto may omit the rice and add extra meat and top the yemista with a healthy serving of Mizithra cheese (local international grocers can shred this for you)!
This recipe takes work and skimping on the details will produce a lackluster end-product. This is why my Yiayia would always recruit my brothers and I for the more difficult aspects of the recipe and we always loved cooking this dish together (see photo below)! My brothers and I would help my Yiayia hand roll the eggplants and zucchini to soften the skin before using a grapefruit spoon to remove the innards, being extra careful not to puncture a hole through the skin.
While my Yiayia would be carefully stirring the onions, my brothers and I would work on food processing the inside of the vegetables to add to the pot. Once the mixture was ready and we stuffed the vegetables, we would make sure to puncture a few holes in each zucchini and eggplant with a fork so that the inside (specifically the rice), cooked and expanded well.
This recipe is great for meal-prepping and makes a great leftover for lunch as the meat marinates overnight in the fridge and will be even tastier the next day once cooked! You can also prepare the vegetables and let it sit in the fridge overnight before baking the next day.
If using eggplants and zucchini is too time consuming, I recommend making a mixture of peppers and tomatoes which are much easier to carve out and stuff, but be warned that the filling may not taste as good because you will not have the added softness and texture of the eggplants and zucchini. To account for this, you can always food process 1-2 zucchinis and add this to the pot directly.
Have leftovers? Freeze and store for up to 6 months and defrost when you need a new lunch! Enjoy the recipe!
Yemista – Greek Stuffed Vegetables
Ingredients
- 3 lbs grass-fed ground meat, (85-90%, any more is quite lean), can also use ground turkey or tempeh
- 2 red bell peppers
- 3 beefsteak tomatoes
- 3 japanese eggplant
- 2 zucchini
- 2 large shallots, finely diced
- 2 medium-sized red onions, finely chopped
- 6 cloves garlic, finely diced
- 2 cans Muir Glen tomato sauce
- 3/4 cup Greek extra-virgin olive oil, and more as needed for taste!
- 10 tbsp brown or white basmati rice
- 1 tbsp sea salt
- pepper, to taste
- 1/4 cup parsley, finely chopped
- 4 cups water
- shredded mizithra or parmesan to taste
Instructions
- Heat a large pot with 1/4 cup olive oil
- In a small food processor, add shallots, garlic, onion and 1 cup of water and blend until finely diced
- Add to pot on medium-high heat and sauté until translucent, stirring frequently for about 25 minutes. Add more water as needed to prevent burning and keep the lid off the pot.
- Using your hands or a rolling pin, roll out the eggplant and zucchini until the outside flesh is soft. This will greatly assist in the next steps below so use your muscle!
- Next, use a knife to cut a "cap" for the bell peppers, tomatoes, zucchini, and eggplant.
- Use a grapefruit spoon to carve the meat out of the tomatoes, zucchini, and eggplant being careful not to tear through the edges.
- Scrape enough to make a hollow opening in each vegetable and save the innards in a bowl. This part takes patience and diligence but is key to yummy stuffed vegetables! *Note, since the bell peppers don't have "meat" you may discard the seeds and white flesh on the inside.
- Add the vegetable innards to the food processor with water and blend well.
- Once blended, add to the pot and add salt, pepper, and 1/4 cup olive oil. Mix well and continue to cook on high heat for 20 minutes.
- Once vegetables are sautéed, add ground meat and more salt and pepper to taste, mixing well until ground meat is cooked.
- While meat is browning, turn oven on to 390°F.
- After meat is browned, taste with a spoon to see if you need to add more salt or pepper.
- Add parsley, one can of tomato sauce, and 10 tbsp of rice and turn to high heat until mixture begins to bubble. Reduce to low-heat and cover for 30 minutes while the rice cooks.
- Meanwhile, in your food processor add the other can of tomato sauce, 1/4 cup olive oil, and 2 tsp salt and pepper.
- Once rice is cooked, turn the pot off and begin to use a spoon to fill each vegetable with the meat & rice mixture until filled toward the top (but not overfilled or it will overflow when the rice continues to expand in the oven). Place the cap on top of each vegetable, using a toothpick to spear and hold the caps for the eggplants and zucchinis in place.
- Add each vegetable to a large baking pan. Use another toothpick to poke several small holes in the eggplants and zucchinis (but not the tomatoes or bell peppers which have a softer flesh).
- Pour the tomato sauce/EVOO blend from the food processor over the tops of the stuffed vegetables. Cover the baking pan with aluminum foil and place in the oven for 60 minutes, checking every 30 minutes to rotate as needed.
- After 60 minutes, remove the aluminum foil and cook for another 40-50 minutes until the tops of the vegetables are well-cooked!
- Remove from oven and let cool. Top with mizithra (greek version of ricotta!) or parmesan and enjoy! A challenging recipe, but well worth the effort! And the leftovers last for days and taste even better as the meat marinates within the vegetables.