Greek Stuffed Tomatoes

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On our first trip, Mark bought a tourist cookbook entitled “Invitation to the Greek Cuisine”. This recipe was the first thing he made from it, and it’s been a house favorite ever since. Great for leftovers, as well!

Serves 6-8

Ingredients    

1 eggplant
Kosher salt
½ cup pine nuts
6 large or 8 medium tomatoes
1 large onion
6-8 scallions
10-12 oz Feta cheese
Fresh basil

Fresh flat-leaf parsley
Fresh mint
Juice from ½ lemon
Freshly ground black pepper
1 cup flour
Salt & pepper
¼ cup olive oil

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 300°F. Oil a large pyrex baking dish.
  2. Fill a large bowl with warm water, and dissolve a generous amount of kosher salt into it.
  3. Peel the eggplant. Cut into ¼ inch cubes, and soak these in salted water for at least 30 minutes.
  4. Spread the pine nuts on a baking sheet, and toast in the middle of the oven until they become fragrant and just start to turn golden brown. When they are done, remove from oven and raise the temperature to 400°F.
  5. Slice the top off of each of the tomatoes, and discard. Using a paring knife, slice through the interior ribs of the tomatoes – be careful not to puncture through the outside wall. Scoop out the insides with a large spoon, into a large mixing bowl.
  6. Chop or mash the tomato pulp with a knife, pastry knife, potato masher or food processor. It doesn’t have to be super smooth – just no giant chunks.
  7. Peel and dice the onion, and add it to the bowl.
  8. Clean and slice the scallions, and add to bowl.
  9. Crumble the feta, and add to bowl.
  10. Mince the herbs, and add to bowl. You should have about ½ to ¾ cup minced, using mostly basil, less parsley and only a few mint leaves.
  11. Add the lemon juice to bowl. Add black pepper to taste.
  12. Drain the eggplant thoroughly. Put the flour into a large Ziploc bag, and add plenty of salt and pepper – taste to make sure it’s nice and salty/spicy. Add the drained eggplant, seal the bag, and toss to coat. Pour into a sieve or colander, shaking to remove as much excess flour as possible.
  13. Heat olive oil in a large skillet, over medium high heat. Add the eggplant, stirring rapidly to coat all the pieces in a little oil. Fry until golden brown, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes.
  14. Add the eggplant and pine nuts to the bowl, and stir to thoroughly combine all the ingredients.
  15. Using your hands, stuff as much of the mixture as you can into each tomato - pack it in densely, and mound it up on the top. If there’s any left over, you can put it into a small baking dish and bake it along with the tomatoes.
  16. Place all tomatoes upright in the baking dish. Add about 1/8 inch of hot water.
  17. Bake in oven, until liquid is bubbling and the top of the stuffing has a nice brown crisp on it – about 30-45 minutes.
  18. Remove from oven and let cool about 5 minutes. Remove from the baking dish with a slotted spoon, and serve.

My husband says: This dish works well even in the winter, because you don’t need to use really good tomatoes. In fact, it’s more about architecture than flavor: you want to get ones that have really sturdy walls, so they don’t fall apart on you.