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Much like stuffed mushrooms or peppers, which are more commonly found in the UK, French people tend to cook stuffed tomatoes, a French speciality. I have enjoyed cooking these myself numerous times, because I dislike pepper, and mushrooms seem to be stuffed with cheese and garlic rather than meat, which makes a more filling and nutritious meal.  The flavours in stuffed tomatoes (tomates farcies in French) are mouth-watering. You are able to add as many herbs as you wish, to suit your taste buds. This recipe simply uses parsley, but you can add thyme or any other herb on top of the stuffed tomatoes too for extra taste.

Stuffed tomatoes can be enjoyed as a starter, or as a main meal served with rice for example.

Although very easy to make, stuffed tomatoes are a more unusual meal to make in the UK, therefore you can surprise your guests with this French speciality and introduce them to French foods. When served, tomates farcies appear a complex meal and are well presented.

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Cooking time: 1 hour

These ingredients are for 4 people (one tomato per person).

You will need:

500g of sausage meat

4 large tomatoes

3 onions

2 garlic cloves

Parsley

Butter

Salt and pepper

1) Peel and chop up the onions into small segments. Do the same for the garlic cloves.

2) Place half the chopped onions in the sausage meat. Add the chopped garlic, a sprinkle of salt and pepper, and some parsley.

3) Cut off the tops of the tomatoes and empty the insides of the tomatoes so that there are no seeds (see IMAGE 2).

4) Sprinkle salt and pepper into the insides of the tomatoes and add the sausage meat.

5) Once the tomatoes have been stuffed, place the top of the tomatoes back on.

6) On each tomato, place some butter on the tops.

7) Place them into a baking tray, and cook them in the oven at 180°C for 1 hour.

It is important to note that many recipes also use milk, eggs and bread, which form the original recipe for tomates farcies.

You can incorporate these ingredients when adding the onions and garlic to the sausage meat. Beat together 5cl of milk and 2 eggs, then add 5 slices of hard bread chopped into small pieces (or baguette) and add another 5cl of milk until the bread is soft. Then, mix together with the sausage meat and add to the centre of the tomatoes.

IMAGE 1 URL

http://www.zaynab.fr/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/tomates-farcies-halal1.jpg

IMAGE 2 URL

http://img.over-blog-kiwi.com/300x225-ct/0/39/53/77/201304/ob_5b7bd2_supions-chutney-kiwi-tomates-farcies-005.JPG