RecipesVegetarian and Vegetables

Stuffed Vegetables Recipe in the Greek Style

“This all-in-one supper, which was inspired by a recipe in Tessa Kiros’s Falling Cloudberries, will bring a taste of sunshine to your table, whatever the weather.

Gluten Free
Stuffed Vegetables Recipe in the Greek Style
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Ingredients

For the recipe:
  • 25g long grain or risotto rice
  • 1 medium courgette
  • 2 medium, firm tomatoes
  • 1 yellow pepper
  • 2-3 potatoes (depending on appetite), preferably red, unpeeled, cut into wedges
  • 1 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
  • 1 red onion, chopped
  • 150g minced lamb, beef or pork
  • 1 garlic clove, crushed
  • 1/2 tsp each ground coriander, cumin, cinnamon
  • a pinch crushed chilli flakes
  • 50g crumbled feta
  • 1 tbsp pine nuts
  • 2 tbsp raisins, sultanas or currants
  • 1/2 lemon
  • a few sprigs fresh mint and parsley
  • 200ml stock, white wine, or a mixture
  • 8 coriander seeds (optional)
  • to finish pitted black olives and capers (optional)

“This all-in-one supper, which was inspired by a recipe in Tessa Kiros’s Falling Cloudberries, will bring a taste of sunshine to your table, whatever the weather. 

You can use any minced meat for this – even a couple of sausages, skins removed, will do. You can cook this in an ovenproof dish rather than a tin but if so, bring the stock to the boil before adding it at the end of step 3. To serve, slice the vegetables in two, so you both get to enjoy all the flavours. I like the surprising crunch of a coriander seed, but if you don’t, simply omit them.” 

Two’s Company by Orlando Murrin, published by Ryland Peters & Small (£18.99)
Photography by Clare Winfield © Ryland Peters & Small

Method

01
Choose a pan large enough to hold the courgette and pepper, but first of all use it to cook the rice. Bring some salted water to the boil and cook the rice for 12–15 minutes till tender. Drain the rice over a jug and transfer to a large bowl. Return the cooking water to the pan. Meanwhile, prepare the vegetables. Trim the courgette, take a long slice off the top and use a spoon to hollow the flesh out – taking care to get the ends as thin as the sides. It should look a bit like a canoe. Chop the innards of the courgette finely and put in a small bowl. Slice a hat off each of the tomatoes and scoop out the inside. Chop the innards and add to the bowl. Slice the pepper lengthwise through the stem, this time discarding the innards. Put the prepared courgette and pepper in the pan and add the potatoes, and add more boiling water if necessary, to cover. After 3 minutes, remove the pepper, then the courgette. Continue cooking the potatoes for 7–9 minutes, till just tender, then drain. 
02
Heat the oil in a medium frying pan and fry the onion for 5 minutes, until starting to brown. Add the meat and fry till no longer pink, about 4 minutes, breaking it up as it cooks. Add the garlic and spices and cook for 1 minute. Stir into the cooked rice, along with the feta, pine nuts, raisins, zest of the 1⁄2 a lemon and 1⁄2 of the fresh herbs, chopped. Taste and season generously. Divide the stuffing between the vegetables and top the tomatoes with their hats. Put the chopped courgette and tomato innards from step 1 in a flameproof roasting tin or pan, then top with the stuffed vegetables and potatoes. Add the stock and bring to the boil on the hob/stovetop. Sprinkle a little salt on the potatoes, scatter over the coriander seeds, if using, and drizzle with extra olive oil. 
03
Bake at 180°C fan/200°C/400°F for 35–40 minutes, turning the potatoes over halfway through, till the vegetables are soft. Five minutes before the end, add the lemon 1⁄2 into the tin to heat through. In Greece, this dish would be served warm or at room temperature, so if you can resist it, allow it to rest for 30 minutes. Squeeze over the lemon juice, sprinkle with the remaining herbs and, to add a touch more Mediterranean flair, black olives and capers, if you like.