Chef Dimitra
Cretan Melitzanes Tiganites (Μελιτζάνες Τηγανητές)
Cretan melitzanes tiganites are summer eggplant rounds, salted first, flour-dusted, and fried gold in olive oil until the edges crisp and the middle stays tender.
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Central Macedonian Domatorizo (Ντοματόρυζο)
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Summer tomatoes are grated straight into olive oil, then Carolina rice drinks the juices slowly until the pot turns glossy, loose, and bright enough for a Central Macedonian weeknight table.
Side Dishes
Greek
Budget Friendly
Weeknight
Quick Meal
15 min
Active Time
35 min cook•50 min total
Yield4 to 6 servings as a side dish
Central Macedonian domatorizo is tomato rice for the months when the laiki sells tomatoes heavy enough to perfume your bag. It is not red rice made from paste. It is ripe tomato, onion, olive oil, and Carolina rice, cooked loose enough to spoon but not soupy.
The pot is decided before the rice goes in. Cook the grated tomato with the oil until it thickens and the oil shows at the edges, then add the rice. If the rice enters watery, raw tomato, it swells before it tastes of anything. Let the tomato concentrate first, and every grain carries summer instead of thin sourness.
I keep this version as Thessaloniki home food, the sort of dish that sits beside fried eggplant, grilled peppers, or a little feta when it isn't a fasting day. On nistisimes meres, fasting days, it needs no apology. Good olive oil, ripe tomatoes, and patience: a recipe written down is a recipe saved.
In Central Macedonia, domatorizo belongs to the summer table of ladera and nistisima dishes, foods cooked with olive oil and often without meat for the Orthodox fasting calendar. Tomato entered Greek household cooking broadly in the nineteenth century, while the river plains around the Axios, Loudias, and Aliakmon became Greece's main rice-growing country after twentieth-century drainage and irrigation works. The dish makes sense there: summer fruit, local rice, and a fast weekday pot.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
ripe summer tomatoes
Quantity
900g
grated to yield about 700g pulp, skins discarded
medium-grain Greek Carolina rice (ρύζι καρολίνα)
Quantity
250g
rinsed and drained
extra virgin Koroneiki olive oil
Quantity
90ml plus 15ml
yellow onion
Quantity
1 medium (150g)
finely chopped
garlic cloves
Quantity
2
finely chopped
hot water
Quantity
500ml
divided
fine sea salt
Quantity
8g
plus more to taste
freshly ground black pepper
Quantity
1/2 teaspoon
flat-leaf parsley
Quantity
15g
finely chopped
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| ripe summer tomatoesgrated to yield about 700g pulp, skins discarded | 900g |
| medium-grain Greek Carolina rice (ρύζι καρολίνα)rinsed and drained | 250g |
| extra virgin Koroneiki olive oil | 90ml plus 15ml |
| yellow onionfinely chopped | 1 medium (150g) |
| garlic clovesfinely chopped | 2 |
| hot waterdivided | 500ml |
| fine sea saltplus more to taste | 8g |
| freshly ground black pepper | 1/2 teaspoon |
| flat-leaf parsleyfinely chopped | 15g |
Equipment Needed
- •wide heavy pot with lid, 28cm
- •box grater
- •flat wooden spoon or spatula
Instructions
- 1
Grate the tomatoes
Cut the tomatoes across their middle and grate them on the coarse side of a box grater until only the skins are left in your hand. Discard the skins. Measure about 700g pulp with all its juices. Rinse the rice until the water runs mostly clear, then drain it well.
- 2
Soften the onion
Warm 90ml olive oil in a wide, heavy pot over medium heat. Add the onion and half the salt, and cook for 6 to 8 minutes, stirring often, until the onion is soft and pale. Do not brown it. Stir in the garlic for 30 seconds, just until it smells sweet.
- 3
Cook the tomato
Add the grated tomato and the rest of the salt. Simmer uncovered for 10 to 12 minutes, stirring now and then, until the tomato thickens, darkens a little, and the oil begins to glint at the edges. This is the step that decides domatorizo. If the rice goes into watery raw tomato, it swells before it tastes of anything. Let the tomato concentrate first, and every spoonful carries summer.
Do not replace the tomatoes with paste. Paste reddens the pot, but it cannot give the fresh acidity this dish depends on. - 4
Add the rice
Stir in the drained rice and turn it through the tomato for 1 minute, until the grains look glossy and red. Add 350ml hot water and the black pepper. Bring to a gentle bubble, then lower the heat and cover the pot.
- 5
Simmer gently
Cook for 14 to 16 minutes, stirring once from the bottom so the rice does not catch. If the pot looks dry before the rice is tender, add more hot water, 50ml at a time. Domatorizo should be loose and spoonable, not dry like pilafi and not wet like soup.
- 6
Rest and finish
Take the pot off the heat and let it rest, covered, for 10 minutes. Fold in the parsley and the final 15ml olive oil. Taste for salt. Serve warm or at room temperature, beside fried eggplant, grilled peppers, olives, or feta when it is not a fasting day.
Chef Tips
- •Domatorizo is a summer dish. Use tomatoes you would eat raw with salt and oil. If they are pale and hard, cook lentils or beans today and wait for the right fruit. Λίγα και καλά.
- •Carolina rice gives the right soft, spoonable texture. Long-grain rice stays too separate, and risotto rice turns the pot heavy. The region is the dish's surname, and the rice matters.
- •For a nistisimo table, serve it with olives, horta, and bread. Outside the fast, feta is the ordinary pleasure, not a decoration.
Advance Preparation
- •Grate the tomatoes up to 6 hours ahead and refrigerate them with all their juices.
- •Rinse and drain the rice up to 30 minutes ahead; leave it in the sieve so it does not sit wet.
- •Leftover domatorizo keeps for 2 days in the refrigerator. Rewarm gently with a splash of water and a little olive oil.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 290g)
Calories
390 calories
Total Fat
20 g
Saturated Fat
3 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
17 g
Cholesterol
0 mg
Sodium
650 mg
Total Carbohydrates
49 g
Dietary Fiber
3 g
Sugars
5 g
Protein
5 g
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