Dhiafora Parayiemista (Mixed Stuffed Vegetables) is a traditional Cypriot recipe for a classic dish of vegetables with a meat, rice and tomato stuffing that's finished in and served witha tomato and meat broth sauce. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Cypriot version of: Mixed Stuffed Vegetables (Dhiafora Parayiemista).
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Ingredients
4 ripe, round, tomatoes
4 medium green bell peppers
4 medium courgettes (zucchini)
4 large onions (outer layers only)
120ml corn oil
For the Stuffing:
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 tbsp parsley, finely chopped
2 tbsp lemon juice
500g mix of minced beef and pork
45g rice
100g tomatoes, finely chopped
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
salt and freshly-ground black pepper, to taste
For the Sauce:
tomato pulp (reserved from the tomatoes for stuffing)
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 tbsp tomato purée
250ml hot meat broth
1 bayleaf
1/2 tsp sugar
salt and freshly-ground black pepper, to taste
Method:
Wash the vegetables, then cut off the tops of the tomatoes and bell peppers (reserve these). Use a spoon to scoop out the pulp from the tomatoes (reserve for the sauce). Take the onions and carefully remove the ends and the hard outer layers. Drop the onions in a pan of boiling water and cook for about 3 minutes or until soft. Scoop out the inner flesh, leaving a shell formed from the two outer layers. Remove the membranes and seeds from the bell peppers (discard these). Cut off one end from the courgettes and use a small spoon to scoop out the flesh, leaving the outer shell intact.
Heat the oil in a deep pan, add the hollowed out courgettes and the bell peppers and fry until lightly browned. Carefully remove and set aside. Chop the onion cores you extracted and add these to the pan with the medium chopped onion for the sauce. Fry for about 3 minutes or until softened then stir in the tomato pulp. Dissolve the tomato purée in 200ml hot water and sir this into the pan with the meat broth.
Add the sugar, salt, black pepper and bayleaf. Bring to a simmer and cook gently for 15 minutes then take the mixture off the heat and set aside.
For the stuffing, combine the minced meat and the chopped onion in a bowl. Add the parsley, tomatoes, cinnamon, salt and black pepper then stir to combine. Wash the rice in a bowl of lukewarm water then drain. Mix the rice with the lemon juice then work this into the meat mixture. Knead the resultant mixture for 5 minutes then use this stuffing to fill the vegetables (make certain you leave room for some expansion).
Pack the stuffed vegetables upright in a pan, add the reserved vegetable lids then pour over the tomato sauce (thin this with sauce if needed). Cover the pan and bring to a boil. Reduce to a gentle simmer and cook for 60 minutes.
To serve, arrange a selection of stuffed vegetables on a plate, pour over some of the tomato sauce and serve immediately, accompanied by rice.
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