These greek stuffed tomatoes are truly a taste of the Med. Close your eyes while eating them and you could almost be in Santorini with the sounds of the waves crashing in the background. In Greece, Gemista is the name for stuffed vegetables. They are typically baked with all kinds of fresh ingredients including herbs, vegetables, meat and rice.
What can you stuff tomatoes with?
This recipe is vegetarian and uses beautiful zesty and summery ingredients including artichoke, capers, olives, salty feta cheese, lemon juice and quinoa.
You really can be creative, however. Experiment with flavours and ingredients you have in. You can also make super-healthy low-carb variations by increasing the variety and amount of veg or adding some minced beef or tuna flakes and omitting quinoa or rice.
What to eat with stuffed tomatoes?
These are delicious on their own. They are a great option for a tasty lunch. Or you could even make them as a starter or a side dish with a main meal. You could add a few crisp green leaves to add a little extra visual dimension to the dish. I also absolutely LOVE to eat these drizzled in a balsamic glaze.
Can I freeze them?
These are not a good contender for freezing. The process will make the tomatoes ‘mushier’ and they won’t hold their form or texture as well.
However, you can assemble these up to 3 days in advance and simply bake when you are ready to serve and eat them.
Substitutions
If you are following this recipe but are missing an ingredient or two then no problem. Some substitutions you ca make include;
Quinoa – this can be substituted for some steamed basmati rice. Slightly undercook it by a couple of minutes as the rice will continue to cook in the oven.
Tomatoes – this recipe also works great for stuffed bell peppers instead of tomatoes.
Artichoke/capers/olives – any of these can be substituted for some additional veg, such as finely diced pepper or celery. Feel free to use green olives instead of black if you prefer too!
Looking for other great stuffed veg recipes? Check out these Mediterranean Stuffed Peppers or this Vegan Stuffed Butternut Squash.
Products that work well for this recipe:
Kitchen Essentials Herb Planter
Wusthof Nine Piece Knife Block Set
Beeswax Food Wraps
Greek Stuffed Tomatoes
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 1 1x
Description
These Greek Stuffed Tomatoes are truly a taste of the Med’. Fresh and zesty vegetables and lemon juice combined with salty feta cheese and quinoa – healthy and delicious!
The default recipe serves one as a generous portion with two tomatoes per portion. If using as a light starter then this could easily serve two!
Ingredients
- 2 large beef tomatoes (around 220 g each)
- 50 g (or 1/3 cup) uncooked quinoa
- 12 pitted small black olives (around 40 g)
- 1/4 cup (30 g) feta
- 1/4 cup (35 g) roughly chopped artichoke hearts
- 1 tbsp (around 12 g) capers, roughly chopped
- 1/2 lemon – juice only
- 5–6 large basil leaves
Instructions
1. Preheat the oven to 180C / 350F. Cut the tops of the tomatoes and scoop out the middle (it helps to use a sharp knife to carefully cut away the flesh around the edges)
2. Rinse the quinoa a couple of times in cold water and then place in a small saucepan. Cover with double the volume amount of water (1/2 cup if you used 1/4 cup quinoa – CHECK THIS) and bring to the boil on the hob. When boiling reduce the heat to low and leave to cook, uncovered, for around 15 minutes or until all the water has been absorbed.
3. Place the olives, artichoke and capers in a bowl and crumble over the feta. Add in the cooked quinoa and then add the lemon juice. Tear the basil leaves in and mix well.
4. Spoon the mixture into the tomatoes and cook in the oven for 20-25 minutes.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Category: Lunch
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: Greek
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 (2 stuffed tomatoes)
- Calories: 440
- Fat: 14g
- Carbohydrates: 35g
- Protein: 13g
Keywords: greek, tomatoes, healthy, vegetarian, feta, lunch, starter
This was incredibly easy and quick to make and it’s light and tasty. I was thrilled to have a quinoa recipe as I bought a bag a few weeks ago on a health kick, but had yet to actually make anything with it. I forgot the capers (which I regret) and added some Parmesan. I always like extra cheese. I’d like to add another flavor or two. Any suggestions on what might mix well with these? I was thinking something sweet like cranberries, but is that gross?
★★★★★