Tomatoes stuffed with meatballs
tvdheuvel
9 January 2023
super easy
10 stuffed tomatoes
Happy 2023! It’s been weeks since I last created a new recipe for the blog but being in Belgium and travelling to France & the Netherlands has been very inspiring to say the least.
I have a long list of recipe ideas to cook my way through but for my first recipe of the new year I went for tomatoes stuffed with meatballs, which is quite similar to French tomates farcies. I don’t use all the same ingredients but the main idea is the same: mince in tomatoes in the oven. I love serving this with some white rice but you can also opt to add more vegetables on the side of course. The recipe couldn’t be easier and if you have any mince left after stuffing the tomatoes you can simply cook them as meatballs alongside the other tomatoes.
Getting good quality mince is highly important for any meatball recipe so I would advise to go to a butcher. I always get all of my meat from Paul Tobin’s in Clonmel and they even mix the two minces together which is amazing.
Reviews
Ingredients:
Adjust Servings
| 500g mixed mince (50/50 pork & beef or pork & veal) | |
| 1 egg | |
| 25g dried breadcrumbs | |
| 3tbsp dried parsley | |
| 3tbsp dried basil | |
| salt & pepper | |
| 10 medium-sized vine tomatoes |
Directions
1.
Preheat the oven to 200°C fan
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2.
Put the mince into a big bowl
Add the egg, breadcrumbs, basil, and parsley.
Generously season with pepper, and add some salt too (don't go nuts, it ain't good for the heart). Note though that in some countries your butcher may sell pre-seasoned mince. If that's the case you won't have to add the salt & pepper.
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3.
Mix everything very well, start by using a fork
Then move on to almost kneading the mince.
Shape into 10 meatballs of about 50g each
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4.
Cut the top off the tomatoes and set aside
Scoop out the inside of the tomatoes (the pits and the core) and keep them as well. If you are serving this with vegetable or rice you can chop this up and cook it in a pot with some onion and olive oil and add it to the rice or vegetables.
Put the meatballs inside the tomatoes. You know have two options: putting the tomato tops back on for a more juicy result, or putting them beside the tomatoes for a a crispier meatball top.
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5.
Drizzle a bit of olive oil into a deep dish
Add your tomatoes and cook for about 20-25 minutes.
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Notes
You can also add a shallot to the mince for additional flavour but as I was serving it with rice, onion, and the tomato cores I didn't add onion to the mince.
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