Yemista- Stuffed Veggies

Yemista - Greek stuffed vegetables

There are a lot of recipes out there for stuffed bell peppers, but we like to mix it up and use a variety of vegetables. Since these are easy to feed a crowd, everyone can get a vegetable that they like. Win-win!  Make sure you choose large vegetables (Roma tomatoes won’t work here) as well as a variety of peppers. Red, yellow or orange are the color choices we lean towards. 

 

Servings: 8

 

• Variety of vegetables (tomatoes, zucchini, eggplant or bell peppers)

• 2 lbs. Ground Beef

• 1 lb. Ground Pork

• 1 large yellow onion, cleaned and diced 

• 1 c. olive oil

• 4-5 cloves garlic, minced 

• 1 6 oz. can tomato paste

• 1 cup spaghetti sauce (we use Classico)

• ¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped

• Seasonings to taste - salt, pepper, garlic salt, granulated garlic 

• ½ cup Uncle Ben’s converted white rice 

• ⅓ chicken broth

 

1. Preheat oven to 350*

2. Clean out the insides of the vegetables with a paring knife and/or spoon. Save the insides of the vegetables, keeping the tomato separate from the other vegetables. Chop the vegetable innards into small pieces. 

3. Heat olive oil in a large fry pan, add onion.  Sautee for 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add the pepper, zucchini and eggplant innards.  Sautee for about 5 min, until veggies soften.

4. Add meat to the pan. Stir meat until browned throughout.  

5. Add tomato paste, spaghetti sauce and innards of tomatoes. 

6. Season with salt, pepper, garlic salt and granulated garlic.  Add parsley. 

7. Add rice. Stir to combine then remove from heat.

8. Sprinkle salt in the bottom of each vegetable.  Spoon meat mixture into each vegetable. If you have leftover filling, spoon it on the side of the pan that vegetables are in. Always good to have extra! 

9. Pour chicken broth into the bottom of the pan and bake for one hour. Rotate pan halfway through. 

10. Serve with a tossed salad and warm bread. Enjoy!