Herb Stuffed Tomatoes

This Provecal style starter is quick to prepare and delicious! Serve it with a little salad of seasonal leaves and a few pieces of broken robust goat's cheese. I got this recipe from Yotam Ottolenghi's Plenty. My fiancee had mentioned the book, so I got it one year for her for Christmas. I didn't know that it was all veg food! But it is actually really tasty and he has a wonderful balance of flavor and texture. Serves 4 as a starter course.

Ingredients
4 medium tomatoes (ripe but firm)
1 large onion, finely chopped (easy to do this in a food processor)
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped (easy to do this in a food processor)
12 wrinkly black olives, pitted and roughly chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
30 grams panko or homemade breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons chopped oregano
3 tablespoons chopped parsley
1 tablespoon chopped mint
1 1/2 tablespoons chopped capers
salt and pepper to taste


Preheat oven to 320 F/160 C.

Trim the top part of tomato and discard (or chop it up and make into a small salsa). Take a small spoon carve out the flesh and most of the seeds, leaving a clean shell. You can discard the scoped out flesh or add a little shrimp or chicken stock to the scooped out flesh and seeds to make a nice little broth as a side dish.

Lightly salt the inside of the tomatoes and place upside down in a colander, to drain some of the liquid out.

Meanwhile, heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a medium pan. Add the onion, garlic and olives and stir fry for 5-6 minutes on low heat, until the onion softens and loses its raw aroma/taste.

Remove the onion/garlic/olive mixture from heat and place in a bowl. Add breadcrumbs, herbs, capers and some pepper and give it a good stir. Taste and add salt if you wish.








Fill the insides of the tomatoes with the herb stuffing, pressing down very gently as you go. You want to have  a nice little dome of stuffing on top.

Place on a greased pan. Drizzle with olive oil and bake for 35-45 minutes, or until the tomatoes soften.

Serve hot or warm!

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