Greek Stuffed Vegetables
Photo courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net/Suat Eman
I stole the idea for this delightful dish from a restaurant with the unlikely name of Mr. Souvlaki, down the street from where I worked in Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn, in the mid 1990s. They served it as a lunch special one day a week and I liked it so much I devised a recipe for it. Serves 4-6 as a vegetarian entrée.
5 or 6 fresh vegetables: pick a variety from among bell peppers, tomatoes, zucchini and eggplant
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus more for coating baking dish
2 tablespoons pine nuts
1/2 cup long-grain rice such as basmati
2 tablespoons dried currants
1/2 teaspoon dried mint, or 1 and 1/2 teaspoons fresh, minced
Pinch cinnamon
Salt and pepper to taste
2 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
Handful of fresh parsley, chopped
For custard topping:
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup milk, heated
1/4 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese
1 large egg
1/2 lemon, juiced
Preheat the oven to 375º F.
Halve and de-seed peppers. Slice top off tomatoes, scoop out and mince the pulp. Slice zucchini and/or eggplant in half lengthwise, scoop out with a paring knife, and mince the innards.
In a frying pan, sauté the onion and garlic in the olive oil until soft and translucent, then add the pine nuts and cook and stir until coated.
Add rice, currants, and any chopped innards of tomato, zucchini or eggplant, and cook for 5 minutes, stirring. Add 1/4 cup water along with mint and cinnamon. Salt and pepper to taste.
Remove from heat, add feta and parsley and mix well. Coat a 9x13 pan with olive oil, arrange the vegetables in it and fill each one with the rice mixture.
Melt butter in a small saucepan and whisk in flour. Whisk until flour loses its raw smell and pour heated milk in slowly, still whisking. Bring to a gentle boil, watching carefully, then remove from heat and add pinches of salt and pepper and the Romano cheese. In a small bowl beat egg, then temper by dropping a spoonful of the sauce into it, then mix and whisk the egg into the sauce.
Spoon the sauce over the stuffed vegetables, then put the juice from half a lemon and about a half cup of water in the bottom of the baking dish. Bake until rice is cooked and veggies tender.
5 or 6 fresh vegetables: pick a variety from among bell peppers, tomatoes, zucchini and eggplant
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus more for coating baking dish
2 tablespoons pine nuts
1/2 cup long-grain rice such as basmati
2 tablespoons dried currants
1/2 teaspoon dried mint, or 1 and 1/2 teaspoons fresh, minced
Pinch cinnamon
Salt and pepper to taste
2 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
Handful of fresh parsley, chopped
For custard topping:
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup milk, heated
1/4 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese
1 large egg
1/2 lemon, juiced
Preheat the oven to 375º F.
Halve and de-seed peppers. Slice top off tomatoes, scoop out and mince the pulp. Slice zucchini and/or eggplant in half lengthwise, scoop out with a paring knife, and mince the innards.
In a frying pan, sauté the onion and garlic in the olive oil until soft and translucent, then add the pine nuts and cook and stir until coated.
Add rice, currants, and any chopped innards of tomato, zucchini or eggplant, and cook for 5 minutes, stirring. Add 1/4 cup water along with mint and cinnamon. Salt and pepper to taste.
Remove from heat, add feta and parsley and mix well. Coat a 9x13 pan with olive oil, arrange the vegetables in it and fill each one with the rice mixture.
Melt butter in a small saucepan and whisk in flour. Whisk until flour loses its raw smell and pour heated milk in slowly, still whisking. Bring to a gentle boil, watching carefully, then remove from heat and add pinches of salt and pepper and the Romano cheese. In a small bowl beat egg, then temper by dropping a spoonful of the sauce into it, then mix and whisk the egg into the sauce.
Spoon the sauce over the stuffed vegetables, then put the juice from half a lemon and about a half cup of water in the bottom of the baking dish. Bake until rice is cooked and veggies tender.
