Ψάρι-πλακί

Psári-plakí

Serves 6

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Get out a 9×13” baking dishes.
Take your tomatoes and slice a hole in the top, and gently set the top aside.
Scoop the insides of the tomato flesh out, leaving just the tomato shell which you place in the baking dish.
For the scooped out tomato flesh, remove the tough core and squeeze the juice out, reserving the rest of the tomato flesh. Chop the tomato flesh up and set aside.

In a large pan over medium heat, break up the meat while cooking it all the way through, about 5 minutes.
When the meat is cooked through, but not brown, add the onion and garlic cooking for about 5 minutes until the onion is soft.
Then add the extra tomato flesh and the crushed tomatoes, olive oil and white wine. Simmer for about 10 minutes over medium-low heat.
While the beef is simmering, combine the freshly minced parsley and mint in a little bowl and set aside.

Go back to the simmering beef and add the rice and the water to the pan. Simmer for about 10 minutes further over low heat, (this should just soften up the rice a little bit before baking it).
Remove the beef and rice mixture from the stove and add the fresh herbs, mixing well. Season to taste with kosher salt.
Gently scoop the rice mixture into the tomato shells and put the reserved tops on the tomatoes.

Peel and quarter the potatoes and place them in a bowl with the olive oil and a generous amount of kosher salt. Toss to coat them and set the bowl aside.
Pour the potatoes into the baking dish and use them to surround the tomatoes, they will support them so that they don’t topple over while baking.
Put a little bit of water (about ⅛ cup) in the bottom of the pan to help steam the potatoes.
Drizzle the tops of the tomatoes with a little more olive oil.
Bake the tomatoes for about an hour or until potatoes are golden and the rice is tender. Serve them hot or at room temperature with a scoop of potatoes.