Tomates Farçies is a rustic and classic French side dish. It pairs perfectly with steamed or grilled fish, light creamy pasta, or risotto rice although it is yummy and healthy served on its own.
See Recipe.

Fresh red tomatoes are cut, cored and stuffed with bread crumbs, herbs, shallots, garlic and olive oil. In this recipe, I mixed ground extra lean beef to the filling to add a bit of taste and texture, although it’s optional. Then they are baked in the oven until the filling turns golden brown.

I went to Rustan’s Supermarket Ayala Center, Makati at 10 this morning. I brought with me the list of ingredients needed for my very first recipe—Tomates Farçies. I always bring with me my shopping list. It’s a useful way to remind myself what I need and do not need to purchase. My strategy is to prepare a list before I leave home and make sure I don’t leave with an empty stomach. I try to not stray from my list and stick to it as not to get out of control and get impulsive. This list represents my grocery needs: Produce, Meats, Dry ingredients, Dairy & Household needs.

When I go for grocery shopping, I go to Rustan’s. I can expect a healthy mix of local and international brands as Rustan’s puts basic and gourmet products under one roof. I get the freshest and best selection of groceries, ranging from meat, produce to dairy and deli. Rustan’s in fact is the only supermarket in the country that supplies chilled, not frozen, Australian beef cuts that are reasonably priced.  The cuts are of absolute quality, clean, juicy, just perfect for my preference. For fresher seafood on the other hand, I go to Seafood Market in Macapagal, Pasay City.

February is the beginning of the tomato growing season in the Philippines, the start of the summer. So it wasn’t hard for me to find tomatoes as the feature ingredient for this recipe challenge. I looked for perfectly ripe and red tomatoes, firm, unblemished with fresh green stems still attached. I was pretty lucky to find the largest ones, just big enough for the filling. I got 6 of them for Php120 per kilo, very reasonably priced. I was hoping I could find those heirloom varieties. I heard they’re now being grown in some parts of Tagaytay. I would like to check it one day.

It was indeed my lucky day of grocery shopping as I finished my list in no time. I even found small red onions (sibuyas Tagalog from the Northern Philippines) which would work as well as the real shallots with this recipe.

I prefer curled parsley than Italian (flat leafed) parsley for this dish. I love its fresh and crispy taste, goes well with fresh basil and thyme and good for garnishing too. It is the most readily available of all fresh herbs. Fresh thyme though is a bit tricky. If fresh thyme is kept too moist, the leaves will start to blacken and lose their flavor. It is seldom readily available in supermarkets and/or specialty stores. Thyme is usually commercially dried and can be stored for longer than a year. I got the dried ones.

I still have breadcrumbs made from a leftover baguette from last weekend. I prefer my own nice and dry breadcrumbs that I store in plastic container than store bought. It tastes better and cleaner.

All the ingredients were sorted, proportioned, washed, cut, cored, minced and readied for my first recipe challenge.

To core the tomato was a bit fussy. I created a wider full circle just outside the core, around the stem and steadily cut off with a small sharp knife the top center of the tomato. Set aside the top center for use to cover cored tomato like a lid. Gently scooped out all of the tomato pulp using a small spoon. Cored tomatoes would now look like vessels. Then sprinkled generously each vessel with salt and pepper.

Then pre-heated the oven to 200 degrees C.

For the filling, I combined the rest of the ingredients in a bowl, mixed it with fork until well blended and stuffed it into the vessels. I put back the top center of the tomato to cover then stuffed tomatoes. Then drizzled with olive oil and and a bit of salt. Placed the stuffed tomatoes, cut side up, on a baking dish in which they fit comfortably. Baked until the stuffed tomatoes were soft and filling turned golden brown, about 15-20 minutes. I served them hot with steamed long-grain rice for dinner.

Tomates Farçies was truly a creative dish that’s eye-pleasing and just delectable! And healthy too.

My first recipe challenge came out perfect! Everyone in this household loved it. I will definitely make this dish again.

It was fun! I can’t wait for my next challenge! See you next time…à bientot!

Tomates Farçies

Prep Time: 15mins

Cooking Time: 20mins

Ingredients

6 firm fleshy ripe tomatoes (2 1/2-3 inches in diameter)

1/4 cup olive oil

25 g extra lean ground beef (optional)

1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs

2 tb minced fresh basil leaves

2 tb minced fresh parsley leaves

3 tb minced shallots (scallions if available)

2 cloves minced garlic

Kosher salt

Freshly ground pepper

Pinch of dried thyme

Preparation

Step1
Preheat the oven to 400ºF (200ºC).

Step2
Core the tomatoes by creating a wider circle around the stem and steadily cut the top center off with a sharp paring knife. Set aside the top center to cover the cored tomato like a lid. Then gently scoop out all of the tomato pulp using a small spoon. Cored tomatoes would now look like vessels. Then sprinkle each vessel with salt and pepper.

Step3
Combine the rest of the ingredients in a bowl, mix it with fork until well blended. Then stuff the mixture into the vessels. Put back the tomato lid to cover stuffed vessels. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Place them, cut side up, on a baking dish in which they fit comfortably.

Step4
Bake until the stuffed tomatoes are soft and filling turn golden brown, about 15-20 minutes.

Step5
Serve hot or at room temperature.

This recipe makes 3-6 servings.