I love my neighbors! But I had a tough time understanding them at first! Thankfully, tomatoes don't need a translator! In the above video, you'll learn how to turn tomatoes into tiny, stuff-able bowls and how to transform a zucchini into shot glass-like structures, filling them up with yummy goodness. And note: in this video, I didn't lightly salt the tomatoes. If you over salt, like I did, shake off the excess.
Paulette’s Tomates Farcie
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 45 minutes
Serves 4
Great for: a simple family meal, a casual dinner amongst good friends
Wine suggestion: A Bandol Rosé
Extra virgin olive oil
8 large tomatoes*
¼ cup dry white wine
1 ¼ pound ground meat, either hamburger
or pork, or, preferably, a mix of both
3 cloves garlic, peeled, de-germed, and
finely minced
2 shallots, finely minced
½ cup finely minced parsley (flat
variety preferred), plus extra for garnish
3 healthy pinches herbes de Provence
1½ slices white bread, crusts cut off,
torn into pieces
1 egg
1 handful breadcrumbs or panko (optional)
1 healthy pinch fleur de sel (or other coarse salt)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper,
to taste
Preheat oven to 400ºF. Lightly cover the
bottom of a 9 x 12 baking dish with olive oil. Slice the caps off the tomatoes,
and place them to the side. Hollow out the tomatoes with a knife and a spoon, without
cutting through the bottom, so they resemble small bowls. Set the tomato pulp
aside. Lightly salt the interior of each tomato, setting them upside down on a
plate to drain. Coarsely chop the tomato pulp and place it in the baking dish. For
the farcie (stuffing), mix the ground meat in a large mixing bowl with the
garlic, shallots, parsley, and herbes
de Provence. Season with salt and pepper. Place the slice of
bread on the mixture. Add the egg to the meat mixture, and mix all of the
ingredients with your hands. Once the meat is well-combined with the herbs, use
a spoon to fill the tomatoes to the top with the meat stuffing. Place the tomatoes in the baking dish,
meat side up.** Drizzle with olive oil, and place a “cap” on each tomato. Add
the wine to the tomato pulp mixture in the bottom of the baking dish. Sprinkle
the entire dish with a bit of fleur
de sel. Bake for 45 minutes. Serve with rice, spooning the sauce
from the bottom of the baking dish on top. Garnish with chopped parsley.
* You can also stuff small squashes or
zucchini (as seen in the video). Mixing up your vegetables makes for a colorful, happy dish! Try this with peppers, too!
** If you’d like to sprinkle some
breadcrumbs or Panko on the farcie (stuffing), now’s the time to do it.
Paulette and Claude! We love them! |