Greek Style Stuffed Peppers & Tomatoes
*serves 4

Since my aunt and I have been recovering from our respective surgeries there’s been an abundance of vegetables in the house. Normally we’re both avid veggie eaters, but the amount we have been consuming in the last few months has been striking. I’ve been preparing evening dinners for the last 2.5 weeks, enjoying every moment of being back in the kitchen because food is a gift to give to others and ourselves. I don’t know how common it is to be cooked for everyday (especially a woman) once we reach a certain age and phase in our lives, either through being single or married. Inevitably, the responsibilities of life shift and the days of mom and grandma cooking for us eventually fade — we’re left to feed ourselves and or our families, choosing to carry on traditions or not.

I believe food is the framework of a home, cooking together, eating together, conversations shared and the learning, curiosity and senses that develop through the process.

As a lover of food and cooking, eating out and eating in – having done some exploratory global food writing in Queens, too – getting in the kitchen to make a new meal or one I’ve previously tried is a challenge for my creativity and memory. A challenge, quite frankly, that I enjoy. In recent months my friend Susana made the most delicious Greek style stuffed peppers — aka heavier on the herbs, lemon and oil than on sauce — reminding me of our dinner days and takeout nights from one of our favorite Greek restaurants, Stamatis, in our neighborhood of Astoria.

Last week, as I contemplated what to prepare for dinner, I stared down bell peppers, tomatoes and a package of meat that was in the refrigerator. The weather was cool, alarmingly cold, really, for April, and called for a warming meal. I recalled Susana’s meal, Stamatis stuffed peppers and tomatoes and swiftly got to work on recalling the flavors. I moved slowly, stopping to think about the taste, gathering all of the ingredients, and got to work.

This recipe and process is not for the impatient or faint of heart in the kitchen. Preparing these peppers and tomatoes is an act of patience and love. They might take about 2.5 hours to prepare from prep to cooking time, but I promise they are well worth the work in kitchen triumph and in taste.

Let’s get organized and have fun!

I recommend gathering all of the main ingredients first and preparing them for the process of stuffing.

Cutting and deseeding the peppers, reserving the tops — as well as coring the tomatoes and reserving the flesh. You can also peel and prepare the potatoes.

Once the peppers, tomatoes and potatoes have been prepped for stuffing, you can put them in a deep baking or casserole dish and put them aside! A big step is complete and you can focus on preparing the stuffing.

Begin to prepare the stuffing by adding your prepared chopped onions and minced garlic to a large pan coated with some olive oil (all exact measurements are below) , adding in the meat, salt, tomato paste, rice, wine, stock, flesh of the cored tomatoes and herbs! The stuffing should not be liquidy but juicy and tasty. So be sure to adjust salt and stock as needed based on how much liquid evaporated during the cooking process.

Now the peppers and tomatoes are ready for stuffing!

Stuff the peppers and tomatoes well, don’t be shy. Press the stuffing in so the cavities of the vegetables are full.

Place the tops of the peppers on the stuffed peppers and drizzle the whole pan with olive oil. Cover the potatoes with chicken stock, coating the bottom of the pan, then cover with foil. Now the peppers, tomatoes and potatoes are ready to be baked in the oven. You’ll place foil over the pan so the veggies steam cook in the added liquid and their own juices that will be released! YUM!

After 35-40 minutes you’ll remove the foil so the steaming process stops. We do this so the peppers and tomatoes now have a chance to get brown and pretty for serving. You’ll cook these bodacious beauties uncovered for another 25-35 minutes (maybe more depending upon the heat of your oven; or if you have more time and want them to break down more and get softer for serving).

Finally, you can remove the baking dish from the oven, give the potatoes a good stir and dazzle these veggies with another douse of good olive oil and herbs for serving!

Greek Style Stuffed Peppers

Ingredients
3 bell peppers, tops sliced off, reserved, and seeds removed from the peppers
4 roma tomatoes, cored, flesh removed and reserved
4 Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into slices, quarters or sixths depending upon the size
1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil, divided + more for serving
2 onions, diced
4 large garlic cloves, finely minced or pressed
3 teaspoons of salt, divided
Freshly ground black pepper
1 pound of ground beef
2 cups of long grain rice, I used Rice Success Brown Rice in the bag but removed if from the bag to cook with the meat mixture
1 cup of fresh parsley, finely chopped an divided
1 cup of fresh dill, finely chopped and divided
2 tablespoons of dried oregano
2-3 tablespoons of tomato paste
1 cup of dry white wine, any wine you would drink will do
1 1/2 - 2 cups of chicken stock + extra as needed
Juice and zest of 2 medium lemons

Instructions to prepare the peppers, tomatoes and potatoes
—Begin by cutting the tops off of the bell peppers, removing the seeds and rib
—Next, core the tomatoes, reserving the flesh and put the flesh and the juices of the tomatoes aside in a small bowl
—Transfer the prepared peppers and tomatoes to a baking/corningware dish and put aside
—Peel potatoes, cutting and placing them in the baking dish with the peppers and tomatoes

Instructions to prepare the stuffing
—Prepare all of your herbs, finely chopping/mincing the onions, garlic, parsley, dill and oregano - separating them on a cutting board or small bowls for easy access to use
—Heat an extra large pan over medium heat with ¼ cup of olive oil and add the onion and garlic, sauteeing for 5 minutes
—Add the ground beef and break it apart as you mix it into the onions, add 1 teaspoon of salt and 2 tablespoons of tomato paste and cook until the meat is just beginning to brown
—Add the rice and toss to coat and toast in the beef and onion mixture
—Add 1 cup of white wine along with the flesh and juice of the tomatoes, 1/3 cup of the parsley, dill, and all of the dried oregano + 1 more teaspoon of salt and freshly ground black pepper
—Add 1 cup of chicken stock along with the juice and zest of 1 lemon, cover, lowering the heat to medium low and allow to simmer for 10 minutes until rice is tender and cooked through
—Remove lid and remove the pan from the heat and add another 1/3 cup of parsley and dill
–Taste the stuffing and adjust the salt as needed
—If the filling looks too dry, it should be juicy, NOT WET, add additional chicken stock and olive oil little by little - by the tablespoon

Instructions to stuff the peppers & tomatoes and potato preparation
—Preheat oven to 400 degrees
—Season the peppers and tomatoes with 1/2 teaspoon of salt and pepper
—Place spoonfuls of the meat and rice stuffing inside the cavity of both the tomatoes and the peppers, stuffing liberally — it’s ok to overstuff a bit
—Sprinkle remaining teaspoon of salt over the potatoes and season with freshly ground black pepper
—Zest and juice 1 lemon over the potatoes
—Add remaining parsley and dill by sprinkling over the potatoes
—Use a spoon to gently toss the potatoes in the pan
—Cover the potatoes with ½ cup to 1 cup of chicken stock
—Use remaining ¼ cup of olive oil to drizzle over the pepper and tomatoes prior to cooking
—Cover the baking dish with foil and place in the oven for 35 minutes
—After 35 minutes, remove the foil and continue to cook for an additional 25-35 minutes
—At this point, give the potatoes a toss and continue to cook uncovered until the peppers are fork tender and tops have browned
—Remove baking dish from the oven once peppers are tender and blistered; potatoes should be broken down — whole but “creamy” and soft
—Taste and adjust on the potatoes salt before serving
—Drizzle the vegetables with some more olive oil and garnish with any remaining fresh herbs
—Serve hot with a salad and some bread, if you want to sop up all of that delicious flavored oil — don’t fear enjoying rice, potatoes and bread in one sitting! Enjoy it!

Greek Style Stuffed Peppers and Tomatoes