 |
| With toddler stuffed tomatoes on the left |
Tomates farcies au boeuf / Beef Stuffed Tomato
What happened to the summer? I can't believe it is already gone. I started to write this recipe in June, and here am I finally posting it on the very last day of September. Time flies at the speed of light when you have a family to take care of!
Fortunately, my tomates farcies or stuffed tomatoes, a summer French family cooking staple, can still be delicious in the fall, especially if you get your tomatoes from a farmer's market. Big, gorgeous tomatoes are perfect to make this dish that has been one of my favorites as long as I can remember. This wonderfully simple recipe is tasty and satisfying, and yet not heavy. And since summer in New York is pretty hot, fall after all seems the perfect time to turn on the oven again.
At the beginning of summer when the twins were just one-year old, I used some of the ingredients of the tomates farcies to prepare a little purée for the girls, and they liked it—the recipe is below.
But nowadays, the girls don't like to be spoon-fed anymore; they want to pick the food and pop it into their mouth themselves. It is becoming a bit challenging to serve them balanced meals every day made of finger food. The last time I made tomates farcies, I made a batch of tiny stuffed tomatoes for the girls, and my little gourmets loved it.
BEEF TOMATO PUREE FOR BABY
INGREDIENTS
1/4 lbs organic lean ground beef
1 small shallot
Sprigs of Italian parsley
1 medium size tomato
Olive oil
your favorite cooked rice
IN SHORT
Sauté the chopped shallot in a bit of olive oil until golden, add ground beef and diced peeled tomato. Serve at room temperature mixed with rice.
IN DETAIL
Peel the tomato: if the tomato is very ripe, you might be able to take off the skin easily; if it is a bit firm, try peeling it with a vegetable peeler; or place in boiling water for a couple of minutes. Remove from water, let it cool down a bit and then take off the skin.
Remove stem end, and dice tomato.
Peel and chop the shallot. Rinse, pat dry and chop the parsley.
Heat a little bit of olive oil in a small non-stick pan. Add the chopped shallot when oil is hot. Sauté until golden. Add ground beef, diced tomato and parley. Mix well, and cook on low heat for about 7-10 minutes, until meat is fully cooked and tomato is tender.
For a smoother purée, blend with a hand blender—my favorite kind of blender because it doesn't generate tons of dishes.
FOR THE PARENTS
INGREDIENTS
3/4 lbs organic lean ground beef
1 egg
3 cloves of garlic
2 shallots
salt and pepper
2 tablespoon of all purpose flour
2 T Olive oil
4 big tomatoes with a flat bottom
1/2 Italian parsley bouquet
1 T salt
pepper
IN SHORT
Mix chopped parley, shallot, garlic with ground beef, beaten egg, flour, salt and pepper. Cut top of tomato, remove flesh and juice from inside and blend them. Place stuffing in tomatoes, pour a bit of blended flesh on top and cover with the tomato top.
IN DETAIL
Preheat oven at 400 F.
Rinse, pat dry and chop parsley. Place in a large bowl. Peel and chop shallots, keep one on the side for later; peel and chop all the garlic cloves, and mix with parsley. Beat one egg and combine with other ingredients. Add ground beef, 2 T of olive oil, salt and pepper and mix well. Then dust with flour and combine.
Cut top of tomatoes to make "hats", put on the side. Remove flesh and juice inside tomatoes with a spoon, or cutting with a knife if the flesh is a little hard, and place in a blender or food processor to purée.
Place remaining shallot in baking pan. Add the tomatoes. Place the stuffing inside the tomatoes. Pour puréed flesh on top of the stuffing, then cover tomatoes with "hats". Drizzle olive oil over the tomatoes, pour 1/2 glass of water in the pan.
Bake for about 30 minutes.
Serve warm with rice.
TINY STUFFED TOMATOES FOR TODDLER
Same recipes as for the parents, using cherry or mini wine tomatoes. Just add the stuffing mix before adding salt, pepper, and garlic to it, if your baby doesn't eat garlic yet.
