← Nouns Cooking · French

Ingredients

• 8 large ripe tomatoes
• 500 g pork sausage meat (Toulouse-style if possible)
• 2 Shallot, finely chopped
• 2 cloves Garlic, finely chopped
• 1 handful Parsley, chopped
• 1 tsp thyme leaves
• 40 g Breadcrumbs
• 1 Eggs
• 100 ml dry white wine or water
• 2 tbsp Olive oil
• salt and black pepper
• 150 g long-grain rice, to bake underneath (optional)

Method

1. Heat the oven to 190°C (170°C fan, 375°F). Slice the tops off the tomatoes and keep them as lids. Scoop out the seeds and pulp with a teaspoon, chop the pulp and keep it. Salt the insides lightly and turn the tomatoes upside down to drain for 10 min.
2. Mix the sausage meat with the shallots, garlic, parsley, thyme, breadcrumbs, egg and plenty of pepper.
3. Fill the tomatoes generously, doming the stuffing, and put their lids back on. Sit them snugly in an oiled baking dish.
4. Pour the chopped pulp and the wine around them (if using rice, scatter it into the dish first and add 200 ml water too). Drizzle with olive oil.
5. Bake for 45–50 min, basting once, until the tomatoes are soft and wrinkled and the stuffing is cooked through to 71°C (160°F) in the centre.

Tips

• Baking raw rice under the tomatoes is a classic French trick: it soaks up the juices and makes a one-dish dinner.
• Courgettes, peppers and onions can be stuffed the same way for Nice-style petits farcis.

Sources

Written in our own words after cross-checking these recipes:

Great British Chefs BBC Good Food