Stuffed Tomatoes or Tomates Farcies

Today, I decided to prepare for dinner a dish that I loved while I was living in France. Before moving to Ireland, I called this dish Tomates farcies. It's quite simple, but it tastes like home. It's warm, comfy and I guarantee you that it can be a delicious meal for anyone searching a suggestion for a dinner during the week.

First thing I have to say is that you will find lots of variations, but if you sticky with the basic guidelines and then add whatever you have in the fridge, that will work anyway.

Total time: 1 h
Prep: 20 min
Cook: 40 min
Yield: 4 servings



INGREDIENTS:

200 g minced meat
8 tomatoes ( you can choose the variety that suits you )
1 onion finely chopped
50 g button mushrooms, finely chopped
1 egg yolk
4 tbsp finely chopped fresh basil
Freshly ground black pepper
Salt
1 tbsp sugar
4 tbsp olive oil
25 tbsp white wine

PREPARING THE TOMATOES:

To start preparing your stuffed tomatoes you should preheat oven to 200°C. Carefully, you need to slice tops off tomatoes. Reserve tops. After that, you need to coop out tomato flesh and seeds, being extra careful not to break tomato shells. Remember, this a delicate job. Keep the tomato flesh in a separate bow. But before, get rid of any seeds. You will need this flesh later to make a delicious sauce. Next, you should place tomatoes, cut side down, in a roasting dish for 10 mins. This is important to extract their juice.

SAUCE:

Now, you need to prepare the delicious sauce I talked above. First thing you should chop the onion. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Listen, I said medium, be careful not to overheat. Don't spoil your recipe burning the onions! Add salt and pepper. Add mushrooms and the tomato flesh. Now, you can add 1 tablespoon of sugar, this is to reduce the tomato acidity. Cook, stirring until it's tender. Remove from heat and wait to cool down a litlle bit. Once removed from heat, you can add fresh basil. I do that at the end to preserve it's flavour. By now, your sauce should be really glossy and smelling incredibly good.

MEAT PREP:

Sauce is ready. Now you should go for the meat preparation. Very easy and quick. Talking about the meat, you should choose one with less fat possible. Add the egg yolk in a bowl with the meat. Then, you should mix with your hands carefully. Add salt and pepper. Add the sauce and once again, mix gently with your hands.

FILLING TOMATOES:

Fill each tomato with this mixture. Place tomatoes tops over filling. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Then, drizzle with the white wine. Cover tomatoes with aluminum foil to prevent over-browning of stuffing. Roast for 40 minutes, 200°C.

                                   

IF YOU WANT A STEP-BY-STEP VIDEO RECIPE:

This is a video made by Chocmiel from "Les bêtises de Chocmiel". Her recipe is slighty different from mine, but as I told you before, you can adapt according to your taste. Another thing is, she speaks French, so for those who don't understand a word, just pay attention at the pictures. Very easy to follow! Et voilà, bon appétit!