Stuffed Tomatoes and Peppers with Rice and Beef

These stuffed tomatoes and peppers are baked with a filling of rice, lean ground beef, onion, garlic and herbs, then finished with melted mozzarella on the peppers. The scooped-out tomato pulp goes into the filling, so nothing is wasted and the rice cooks in the tomato juices. The dish is close to Greek gemista, serves 4 and takes about 1 hour 40 minutes, most of it hands-off baking time.

• Serves: 4 (one tomato and one pepper half each)
• Prep time: 25 minutes
• Cook time: 1 hour 15 minutes
• Total time: 1 hour 40 minutes

Ingredients

Vegetables

• 4 large ripe tomatoes, about 250 g (9 oz) each
• 2 large green bell peppers, about 200 g (7 oz) each
• A pinch of salt for the tomato shells

Filling

• 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 1 medium onion (about 110 g), finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 250 g (9 oz) lean ground beef (beef mince), 90% lean
• 100 g (½ cup) long-grain white rice, rinsed
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste (tomato purée)
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• ½ teaspoon salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 120 ml (½ cup) water, plus 60 ml (¼ cup) for the dish
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Topping

• 60 g (⅔ cup) grated low-moisture mozzarella

You’ll also need a baking dish about 23 by 33 cm (9 by 13 in), a large frying pan and some foil.

Method

1. Heat the oven to 190°C (375°F), or 170°C (340°F) for a fan oven.
2. Slice the top off each tomato and keep the tops to use as lids. Scoop the pulp and seeds into a bowl with a teaspoon, leaving a wall about 1 cm (½ in) thick. Chop the pulp finely, or pulse it briefly in a blender. Sprinkle the inside of each tomato with a pinch of salt and turn them upside down on a plate to drain.
3. Cut the peppers in half lengthwise through the stem, and pull out the seeds and white ribs.
4. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Cook the onion for 5 minutes, stirring now and then, until soft. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute more.
5. Add the beef and turn the heat up to medium-high. Cook for 5 to 6 minutes, breaking it up with a spoon, until no pink remains.
6. Stir in the rice, tomato paste, oregano, salt and a few grinds of pepper, then add the chopped tomato pulp and 120 ml (½ cup) of water. Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes, stirring often, until the rice has soaked up most of the liquid but is still firm in the middle. It finishes cooking in the oven. Stir in the parsley.
7. Stand the tomatoes and pepper halves snugly in the baking dish. Spoon in the filling and press it down lightly without packing it tight, because the rice swells as it cooks. Put the lids back on the tomatoes.
8. Drizzle the remaining tablespoon of oil over the top and pour 60 ml (¼ cup) of water into the bottom of the dish. Cover tightly with foil.
9. Bake for 35 minutes. Remove the foil, scatter the mozzarella over the peppers and bake uncovered for another 15 to 20 minutes, until the peppers are tender when pierced with a knife and the cheese is golden in places.
10. Taste a little filling from the center of one tomato to check the rice is tender. If it’s still firm, cover the dish again and bake for 10 minutes more. Let everything rest for 10 minutes before serving, because the filling is very hot.

Food safety

Ground beef needs to reach 71°C (160°F) inside to be safe, according to the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service. Browning it until no pink remains and then baking it for another 50 minutes takes it well past that, but color alone isn’t a reliable test, so a food thermometer pushed into the center of the filling is the surest check.

Tips for the best result

• Choose large, firm, ripe tomatoes that sit flat. Beefsteak and other big round varieties hold their shape best, while very soft tomatoes can collapse in the oven.
• If a tomato or pepper half won’t stand up, trim a thin slice off the base, taking care not to cut right through.
• Salting and draining the tomato shells stops the filling from turning watery.
• Use long-grain rice. Short-grain rice turns softer and stickier, more like risotto.
• Don’t skip the water in the bottom of the dish. It steams the vegetables under the foil and stops the bottoms from catching.
• To bake them as they appear in the photo, wrap the base of each vegetable in a loose foil cup and stand them on a baking sheet. The foil holds the juices close to each one.

Swaps and variations

• Vegetarian: replace the beef with 250 g (9 oz) of cooked brown or green lentils, about one 400 g (14 oz) can, drained. Add them with the rice in step 6.
• Vegan: use lentils as above, and leave out the mozzarella or use a plant-based cheese.
• Other meats: ground lamb, turkey or chicken all work. Ground turkey and chicken should reach 74°C (165°F), according to the same USDA chart.
• Cheese: crumble feta over the tomatoes as well as the peppers, or use grated parmesan for a sharper, crisper top.
• Herbs: swap the parsley for fresh mint or dill, or use a mix.
• Other vegetables: zucchini (courgette) halves and small eggplants (aubergines) can be stuffed the same way. Scoop out the flesh, chop it and add it to the filling with the onion.

Make ahead, storage and reheating

You can make the filling up to a day ahead and keep it covered in the fridge. Stuff and bake the vegetables when you need them, adding 5 to 10 minutes to the covered baking time because the filling starts cold.

Cool leftovers and put them in the fridge within 2 hours of cooking, then eat them within 3 to 4 days, as the USDA’s leftovers guidance recommends. Reheat them covered in the oven at 180°C (350°F) for about 20 minutes, or in the microwave, until they’re steaming hot and reach 74°C (165°F) in the center. They freeze well for longer storage, though the tomatoes turn softer once thawed.

Nutrition per serving (estimate)

One serving is one tomato and one pepper half. These figures are estimates calculated from USDA FoodData Central values for the raw ingredients, so they’ll change with the size of your vegetables and the brands you use.

The sodium figure includes the salt in the recipe. The World Health Organization recommends that adults keep sodium under 2 g a day (5 g of salt), so one serving uses a little under a quarter of that. If you’re watching your salt, leave out the ½ teaspoon in the filling and season at the table instead.

Contains: milk (mozzarella). The recipe has no gluten, egg, nut or soy ingredients, but check the labels on packaged ingredients if you’re cooking for someone with an allergy.

What to serve with them

• A green salad, or leafy greens sautéed with garlic and olive oil. Our guide to leafy greens has more simple ideas.
• Crusty bread for the juices in the bottom of the dish.
• A spoonful of plain Greek yogurt on the side.

For more weeknight dinners, browse our food and recipes section.

This article is general information, not medical advice. Nutrition figures are estimates from USDA FoodData Central and will change with the brands and amounts you use. If you follow a diet for a medical reason, check the recipe with your doctor or dietitian.