Kalofagas – Greek Stuffed Vegetables

This recipe was given to us by Helen, who tells you who she is below. It’s a good source of carbs, dietary fibre and Vitamins A, B and C, along with a host of valuable minerals. Don’t let’s get too earnest though – it’s also a wonderful treat for the tastebuds.

It’s vegetarian but we’ve tagged it vegan too – just leave out the yoghurt dressing for a dairy-free version of the dish. Or you could make a lovely tahini salad dressing like this one from Thrifty Living instead.

From Helen:
I’m not – and I’ve never been – a runner. But I am Jayne’s sister-in-law and Bibi’s auntie and share their love of eating and talking…

• 4 red / yellow peppers
• 2 courgettes
• 4 big tomatoes
• 120 g risotto rice
• 1 very finely chopped onion
• Juice of 1 lemon
• Lots and lots of finely chopped mint, parsley, dill
• 1 tin tomato purée
• 1 pint vegetable stock (some white wine could be included)
• Olive oil

Method

1 Heat oven to gas mark 5 / 200C / 190C fan oven / 375F.

2 Put the onion, lemon juice, herbs and tomato puree into a mixing bowl.

3 Cut the tops off the peppers. Discard the seeds. Chop the tops finely and add them to the bowl.

4 Cut the courgettes into 7cm lengths. Remove the insides with an apple corer. Chop the insides and end(s) finely and add them to the bowl.

5 Cut the tops off the tomatoes. Remove the insides. Chop the tops and insides finely and add them to the bowl.

6 Mix the ingredients in the bowl. Add the stock. The mixture should be very sloppy as risotto rice absorbs a good deal of liquid.

7 Use some olive oil to grease an oven-proof dish.

8 Stuff the veg with the rice mixture and put them in the dish. Put any remaining rice mixture around the veg.

9 Drizzle with olive oil and put tinfoil or a lid on dish.

10 Check after 50 mins. If the rice isn’t very well cooked, leave for longer.

I recommend serving this warm rather than straight from the oven. It’s very good with salad made of yoghurt, garlic and cucumber (see photo). However, without the yoghurt, it’s vegan. It’s also easy to multiply to serve lots of people!