Happy Friday! I know I have been on a bender of comfort food this week, and I figured I shouldn’t stop now!! Only, we are going to get a little more creative and go for Greek comfort food. And on the ultimate Greek comfort food list- stuffed tomatoes rank high. This is a recipe that I learned from my mother-in-law Tula close to ten years ago. I just recently made these for Pete and I had to update the recipe and share with you. Plus with the weather and the state of our world (both pretty gray) I just want to dive into a pan of these and live there for a while.
Ok- lets talk Stuffed tomatoes. They are an absolute favorite of Pete, and Coco is close behind! You empty them and they get stuffed with a flavorful combination of lean ground beef, rice, tomato, garlic, onion and lots of fresh parsley and mint. The rice steams up al dente and absorbs all of the flavors of the meat, wine, vegetables and fresh herbs. So with every bite you get all of that goodness, plus the tender tomato it was cooked inside of. Pretty amazing.
We used big hot-house tomatoes (because it’s winter and those looked best) but if you have heirlooms available by all means use those!
According to Pete, these would be a side dish. But he also thinks things like lasagna could be a side dish and that soup is not dinner, so there’s that. I however DO think that this is an entrée. Served with a beautiful green salad you would have a perfect dinner.
- Stuffed Tomatoes
- 6 medium-large tomatoes
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1 yellow onion, minced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 28-ounces canned crushed tomatoes
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- ⅛ cup olive oil
- ¼ cup dry white wine
- ½ cup minced flat-leaf parsley
- ½ cup minced fresh mint
- ½ cup long-grained white rice
- ½ cup water
- 4 large yukon gold potatoes
- ¼ cup olive oil
- ⅛ cup water
- Kosher salt
- More Olive oil for drizzling
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Get out a 9×13” baking dishes.
- Take your tomatoes and slice a hole in the top, and gently set the top aside.
- Scoop the insides of the tomato flesh out, leaving just the tomato shell which you place in the baking dish.
- For the scooped out tomato flesh, remove the tough core and squeeze the juice out, reserving the rest of the tomato flesh. Chop the tomato flesh up and set aside.
- In a large pan over medium heat, break up the meat while cooking it all the way through, about 5 minutes.
- When the meat is cooked through, but not brown, add the onion and garlic cooking for about 5 minutes until the onion is soft.
- Then add the extra tomato flesh and the crushed tomatoes, olive oil and white wine. Simmer for about 10 minutes over medium-low heat.
- While the beef is simmering, combine the freshly minced parsley and mint in a little bowl and set aside.
- Peel and quarter the potatoes and place them in a bowl with the olive oil and a generous amount of kosher salt. Toss to coat them and set the bowl aside.
- Go back to the simmering beef and add the rice and the water to the pan. Simmer for about 10 minutes further over low heat, (this should just soften up the rice a little bit before baking it).
- Remove the beef and rice mixture from the stove and add the fresh herbs, mixing well. Season to taste with kosher salt.
- Gently scoop the rice mixture into the tomato shells and put the reserved tops on the tomatoes.
- Pour the potatoes into the baking dish and use them to surround the tomatoes, they will support them so that they don’t topple over while baking.
- Put a little bit of water (about ⅛ cup) in the bottom of the pan to help steam the potatoes.
- Drizzle the tops of the tomatoes with a little more olive oil.
- Bake the tomatoes for about an hour or until potatoes are golden and the rice is tender. Serve them hot or at room temperature with a scoop of potatoes.
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Recipe sounds delicious! I can’t have rice. Do you think it would work with quinoa? I would rinse the quinoa first before putting it into the meat mixture.
Absoluetly Debbie- I think that is the perfect substitute for rice in these. Here is a recipe where I stuffed with quinoa: http://heatherchristo.com/2015/08/16/sausage-and-quinoa-stuffed-roast-squash/
Wow – that looks so delicious! (I might be spending more time in the kitchen now)
I think so! you should definitely make these!
What a tasty stuffing for tomatoes!
Thanks Kevin!
These photos are stunning!!!!!!!!!
thank you so much Adrienne!
Is there a chance you meant to say 6 med-lg tomatoes and not 12?
Also, how many cloves of garlic do I use, 3 or 4? Are any meant to go on the potatoes?
It’s totally to you Megan, I like more garlic so I would use 4. Not meant to go with the potatoes! I hope you like these!!
YES Megan. I halved the original post recipe to make it more manageable. Thank you- I will fix that.
Great, thank you! I only used 6 tomatoes and have leftover filling I’m using in bell peppers tomorrow. You might notice you’ve listed garlic twice for a total of 7 cloves. I went ahead and used a few cloves when tossing my potatoes with the olive oil. I made them last night, they we’re tasty although my rice was crunchy and my potatoes weren’t cooked after an hour so I left them in much longer.
These may take a bit to finish but it’s SO WORTH IT! Seriously, it’s so good I can’t describe it. Take your time to make it, you won’t regret it!
Awesome Doris!! thank you and I am so happy that you loved them!!
This recipe is confusing. Also, after stuffing 7 tomatoes I still had more than half of the meat mixture left. I used less onion than recipe called for, so the volume is less than it would be had I followed the recipe. I have other uses for the stuffing, but would suggest using less meat and and a smaller can of crushed tomatoes.
I dont use a lot of salt, but found that this needed salt, suggest you put an amount.
Can I use minced lamb in place of beef?
Thank YOu