Ingredients
Makes 24 medium sized stuffed tomatoes
24 medium size Roma tomatoes
knob of butter
500g of ground beef
500g of ground pork
3 medium onions, diced small
1 whole head of garlic chopped finely
1 egg
1/2 cup or more of breadcrumbs
1 small bunch of parsley
salt & pepper to taste
Preparation
1- Start by preparing your tomatoes. You’ll want to cut off about 1/3 of the top of the tomatoe and then empty out the center of the it to make space for the stuffing. (see photos below for more detail.) Lay your emptied tomatoes upside down on a tray to drip out any liquid. Save the tops either to place on top of your tomatoes, toss into your freezer bag for broth later or cut up to use in the stuffing.
2- Add your knob of butter to your sautee pan over medium heat. Add your onions and cook them for 5 minutes to soften them. Add your garlic and stir. Add in any tomato juice or piece that you saved when you emptied them. Cook all this down about 20-30 minutes. Add in your parsley, turn off the heat and let it cool.
3- In a large bowl add your meat, egg, breadcrumbs, salt & pepper and cooled onion mixture. Use your hands or a spoon to mix it all together.
4- Test your stuffing to make sure it’s seasoned enough by cooking a tiny bit on your sautee pan. Taste and adjust if need be.
5- Using your fingers or a small spoon, stuff your tomatoes. Make sure to fill the cavity and then pile up the meat stuffing nice and high! If you’re cooking right away, top them off with breadcrumbs or your top of tomatoe. If you are saving them for another day, cover the pan you’ll cook them in with seran wrap and keep them in the fridge for up to 3 days.
6- Bake at 170 covered with tin foil for 20 mins and without tin foil for 10 mins so that the tops can brown. Best served hot and with some rice. Enjoy!
Step 1
To prep my tomatoes I have a cutting board, a tray to drain the tomatoes, a bowl for the insides of the tomatoe and a compost bowl.
Start by cutting around the top of the tomato to create a whole for your stuffing to go in. You want your hole to approxiamately take up 1/3 of the tomato.
Use your knife to cut around the inside of the tomato to make it easier to dig out with a spoon.
Once your tomatos are emptied, lay them upside down on a tray to drain some excess liquid. You can salt them a touch to encourage the draining, as well as salt your tomatos.
In attempts not to waste, I cut around the stem to use the tomato left on it. You can keep these whole and pop them on as little hats before you cook them. Lots of people do this and it works great!
You'll end up with a bowl of cup up tomato pieces from around the stems and the insides of the tomatos. We're going to use these.
Drain the insides of the tomatos into a bowl to use later when we cook the meat.
You'll end up with this. I like to cut up the bigger chunks to smaller ones.
Time to move to the stove. Chop up your onions into small dices.
Add a dash of olive oil to your medium-high heat pan and add your onions.
After a few minutes of softening your onions go ahead and in the tomato liquid. If you skipped this step, allow your onions to keep softening. You don't want them to brown much.
Cut up your head of garlic into the smallest pieces you are willing. And yes a whole head of garlic is worth it!
Add in your garlic and half of the pieces of cup up tomatos. It's up to you if you want to add more. It can get too tomatoey tasting.
After this cooks down a bit, 15-20 minutes add in your parsley. Give it a stir and pull it off the heat to let cool a bit.
In a large mixing bowl add your meat, egg, bread crumbs and finally your onion mixture.
This step seems petty and annoying but it's worth not skipping. I always cook some of the meat mixture to taste for salt. This is really the only way to make sure you are happy with the seasoning.
Your ready to stuff! Use your hands or a small spoon. Either way, make sure you fill the cavity of the tomato and then pile on the stuffing to make a dome. If you are adding the top of tomat, this is the time to do it.
Prepared stuffed tomatoes ready for the oven
If you're going to save them a few days cover them ready to go with seran wrap. Take them out of the fridge 30 minutes to an hour prior to cooking. Sprinkle with some breadcrumbs before popping them into the oven.
You can leave them in the pan you baked them in to serve or you can transfer them.
I like to serve these cute little tomatoes on top of a bowl or platter of rice. Enjoy!
Not only are they delicious but they are festive on a summer table.
My daughter loved them at 2 years old and still loves them at 4 years old (hopefully they continue to stick!)
My grandma was known far and wide for her cooking. Friends and family knew if they were invited for lunch at my grandma’s that they would need to skip breakfast and reconsider dinner. My cousins and family members each have their own “classic” mamie dish but one that we all agree on are her stuffed tomatoes. They were all simple, French country cooking. To do only in the summer while tomatoes are in season. This was key and still is for full flavor deliciousness.
This recipe, like most of my grandma’s recipes, lived in her head. None of us managed to get it out of there before her passing in 2018. I spent several summers testing this recipe and even though we’ll never get it to her exact point of perfection, I got it to a point where everyone that tries it agrees that these stuffed tomatoes taste like my mamie’s.
This dish takes time to make but it has some major benefits. You can and I encourage you to make it ahead of time. You can prepare your tomatoes a day or two before serving and then just pop them in the oven. This is perfect for a crowd and leaves time for you to prep “day of” stuff because your main dish is already made. These also freeze well. I always make a large batch either for a crowd or extra for the freezer. Know your crowd and if they’d want seconds, it’s easy to want another. I usually do.
Enjoy!
