How to Cook Stuffed Tomatoes

Serves: 4

Preparation time: 15 mins

Cooking time: 1 hour

Ingredients needed to make Stuffed Tomatoes:

For the tomato sauce:

• 2 lb 3 oz ripe plum tomatoes, coarsely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed and sliced
• 3 fresh basil leaves
• 1 white onion, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp tomato puree
• 3 pinches granulated sugar
• 2 pinches freshly ground black pepper
• 4 pinches salt
• 3 ½ fl oz olive oil

For the stuffed tomatoes:

• 7 oz ground pork
• 7 oz ripe tomatoes
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 small shallot, finely chopped
• 1 fresh tarragon sprig, leaves picked and coarsely chopped
• 2 tbsp fresh parsley, coarsely chopped
• 2oz fresh breadcrumbs
• 2 oz Comte cheese, grated
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tbsp olive oil, plus more as necessary
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Cooking instructions for Stuffed Tomatoes:

• To make the tomato sauce, drizzle oil in a pan and heat it over moderate flame until it starts shimmering.
• Add the garlic plus onion into it and sauté gently for about 3-4 minute, stirring often, until they soften.
• Spoon in the tomato puree and give it a nice stir to coat well.
• Continue to sauté for 1 minute and stir in the chopped tomatoes, followed by a dash of seasonings to taste.
• Cook the sauce until it starts simmering and place a lid on top to cook further for 20 minutes over slow flame.
• Adjust the seasonings if necessary and fold in the basil leaves.
• Strain it through a fine-mesh sieve and return the strained sauce back into the pan.
• Warm up your oven to 350 degrees F
• To make the stuffed tomatoes, slice off small portions of the tomato bases so that they can sit flat on a plate without toppling down.
• Chop off 1/3 of the tomatoes from top and set them aside.
• Scrap out the flesh from the interior of the tomatoes and place them in a bowl.
• Drizzle the juices into the tomato sauce and give it a nice stir until well combined.
• Place rest of its ingredients in a bowl, except cheese, and stir them all together to mix well.
• Add half of the cheese into it and stir it into the filling.
• Sprinkle a dash of seasonings into the hollowed cavity of each tomato and stuff ¼ of the pork mixture into each of them.
• Sprinkle rest of the cheese on top and place the reserved tomato tops over each stuffing.
• Grease a baking dish with a lashing of oil and arrange the tomatoes on it.
• Smother them with more olive oil and bake in the oven for 25 minutes or until the tomatoes soften and the stuffing is cooked properly.
• Warm up the tomato sauce and drizzle it all over the stuffed tomatoes.
• Serve and enjoy!

Image credit: Wikimedia Commons

Last Updated on April 19, 2013 by