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Two french stuffed tomatoes a la provencale sitting on a small green ceramic plate of rice with a glass of white wine and the cooking dish in the background.

French Tomates Farcies

A deceptively easy meal that’s bursting with flavor, these juicy, French stuffed tomatoes are generously filled with ground beef and Mediterranean spices and then roasted to perfection.
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Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Course dinner
Cuisine French
Servings 5

Ingredients
  

  • 9-10 tomatoes medium to large
  • 1 lb ground beef or lamb
  • 1 cup breadcrumbs homemade or store bought
  • 3 tablespoons milk for breadcrumb
  • 1 cup loosely packed basil en chiffonade, divided in half
  • ½ cup loosely packed parsley chopped, divided in half
  • 1 white onion diced
  • 3 large garlic cloves diced (approximately 1 tablespoon for meat stuffing, 1 teaspoon for spoon sauce)
  • 1 teaspoon salt for lamb ¼-½ teaspoon for tomato spoon sauce
  • ¼ teaspoon black pepper each for meat and then again for tomato spoon sauce
  • ¼ cup white wine - for tomato spoon sauce

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 400°F.
  • In a medium mixing bowl, add milk to the breadcrumbs and let sit while you make the tomato sauce.
  • Slice the tops off the tomato, reserving them to cover before baking. Scoop out the insides of the tomatoes, reserving juices and flesh in a small mixing bowl. Sprinkle the inside of the tomato with a little salt and resting tomatoes upside down for up to five minutes to drain excess juice.
  • Make tomato spoon sauce. Chop the tomato pulp and add ½ cup basil en chiffonade, ¼ cup chopped parsley, half of a diced onion, 1 minced garlic clove, white wine and salt to taste into an 8x8 or 9x13 baking dish, reserving ½ cup for meat stuffing.
  • Make the meat stuffing. Add the rest of the ingredients into the bowl with the breadcrumb mixture and knead together with the meat until everything is thoroughly mixed. To ensure proper seasoning, you can saute a teaspoon of the meat in a small frying pan and once cooked through, taste, adjusting salt as needed.
  • Stuff the tomatoes with the meat. Placing side by side in the baking dish. Cover tomatoes with tomato tops. Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes.
  • Serve it up! Make white rice and spoon tomato sauce over it when you serve your tomates farcies to take this meal over the top! This is also delicious served with a side salad and crusty bread.
Keyword European, ground beef, tomatoes
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