Sunday, June 13, 2010

tomates farcies

Hello hello! We had a great time on our Excellent Adventure, and I'm going to blog about that with pictures very soon, but my cousin asked me for my recipe for tomates farcies, or stuffed tomatoes. I thought for sure that I'd already posted it here but apparently I haven't at all, so I thought I'd better rectify that!

This recipe makes four generous portions, or enough for two meals for the three of us. Traditionally, this is made with ground pork, but if you're like me and have problems with cholesterol, you can substitute ground beef or go half and half (which is what I usually do). Also, I should note that all the measurements are approximates since I never measure myself!

You will need:

1 1/2 pounds of ground pork
OR
1 1/2 pounds of ground beef
OR
3/4 pounds of ground beef and 3/4 pounds of ground pork

4 large tomatoes (large enough to fit in the palm of your hand, but not too large, or else the meat won't cook in the middle)

1/3 cup bread crumbs
herbes de provence
garlic powder
salt & pepper

Slice the tops off the tomatoes, scoop out the flesh and liquid and set aside. Sprinkle a little salt into the tomato and turn upside down in your casserole dish.

Chop up the tomato flesh and toss into the casserole (makes a great sauce!).

Add to the tomato juice the meat, bread crumbs, herbes de provence, garlic powder, salt and pepper to taste and mix by hand. (if I'm using pork, I don't add salt here.)

Stuff meat mixture into the tomatoes, over-stuffing a little. Place the tops of the tomatoes back on so they are perched on top of the meat. Make meatballs with whatever meat remains and add to the casserole.

I can't tell you what temperature to set your oven because we have an easy bake oven that has no temperature gauge (yes, really) but set it to the lower side, maybe 350-ish? Let cook for about 45 minutes to an hour, or until the meat is cooked through. Serve with rice.

Bon appétit !

8 comments:

Lghtngfan said...

I usually set the oven at 350, and they come out fine. I also add in 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese for a nice twist. :)

Forest Green said...

Have you ever tried ground lamb? Very yummy!

Vivi said...

Forest, I have, but not in this recipe, you're right that should be really good!

Ms Mac said...

Love ground (minced) lamb. I'll try this recipe for sure!

Bostanna said...

I love making stuffed veggies! Thanks for your recipe! Do you have a link to your email address on your site that I just can't find? I wanted to ask you about whether France also has a car seat law and also whether you find it easy to go out to a restaurant with Fry. Are the restaurants kid-friendly and are there high chairs like in the US? How was it at CSG with him? Did you have to go on a train or bus or taxi with him and did you have to have a car seat then? I am travelling next month and am worried about all this!
Thanks!

Vivi said...

Bostanna, whoa, I used to have my email address on the blog and I forgot to add it back since I redid the background! In any case, those are really good questions and I will write a post about this in the next few days!

Anonymous said...

I made these for dinner last night and they were really good! There was plenty of juice and tomato bits to have with the rice. Thanks for sharing!!

chrissoup said...

I was an AFS exchange student in France in 1963. My maman fixed tomates farcies frequently, and they were just about my favorite meal. Thanks for the memories!