Veggie Stuffed Tomatoes

for times when you find BIG RIPE tomatoes…

My love of stuffed tomatoes started young. On a holiday to France we were driving through Marseilles. I think I was nine. My mum stopped at a charcuterie and as we waited in the car a girl rode by with a pet monkey on the child’s seat of her bicycle. The small black monkey, the smell of those still warm stuffed tomatoes, eating them as a picnic lunch…I can still taste how good they were. Its funny how certain memories are etched on your brain forever. So here is a recipe that I make over and over again whenever I find giant tomatoes.

Perhaps buying the tomatoes is half of the fun?

 

Gadgets & Gizmos
Deep baking tray or ceramic dish

Ingredients: serves four

This recipe is a guide as stuffed vegetables should be seen as handy recipients for leftovers:
• 4 x 200g of big fat ripe tomatoes  or 6 smaller ones
• 100g rice and 50g green lentils  or 100g couscous and 25g currants
• 1 small onion finely chopped or 3 spring onions
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
•  Selection of fresh herbs: parsley/ basil/ thyme/ mint chopped roughly
•  1/2 tsp allspice 
• Olive oil for brushing and drizzling
• 60g hard cheese (optional) something like parmesan or gruyere but strong cheddar is fine
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

Very thick Greek yoghurt to serve

How To
Fry the rice, onions, allspice and garlic in olive oil until the onions are transparent. Add a very small cup of water  (150ml) and boil until the rice absorbs the water but is not quite cooked through. Now add the lentils.

Trim the bases of the tomatoes so they sit flat on the work surface. Slice off the top of the tomatoes and reserve (this will serve as the ‘lid’ for the stuffed tomatoes).

With a spoon, scoop out the pulp and juices of the tomatoes into a bowl. Discard any woody bits which can occur in really big tomatoes.

Add this pulp to the rice mixture

Mix all of the remaining stuffed tomato ingredients, except the cheese if you are using together in a bowl until well combined.

Season the insides of the tomatoes with a pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Divide the stuffing mix among the tomatoes, pressing it in lightly. Sprinkle over the cheese if you are using. Top each stuffed tomato with the reserved tomato ‘lids’.

Brush a baking dish with a little olive oil (I usually put some baling paper or foil in to stop them caramelizing onto the baking dish directly) then place the tomatoes on top.

Drizzle with some more olive oil  and add a little water and cook in the oven for 25 – 35 minutes at 180C, or until the tomatoes are tender and the stuffing is cooked through. Its important the tomatoes are really cooked and roasted.

Improvs and Ideas

As many recipes for stuffed tomatoes as spices and leftovers exist …so infinite really…I have recipes for stuffed tomatoes with meat baked in tomato sauce, Indian spiced with leftover dahl, an Italian version, a Turkish version, a Persian version and a classic French version with pork meat….

and as there is always more stuffing than tomatoes a “two out of one” recipe for veggie patties is a great trick too!