What's Pressoir Cooking?

August 31, 2020
By Justine Puaud

TOMATO SEASON IS HERE
Let’s cook a traditional family recipe - the French tomato dish “Tomates Farçies.”

INGREDIENTS for 4 people

2 pounds ground pork
8 medium size vine-ripened or Heirloom tomatoes
1 onion, chopped
half bunch of thyme
1/4 cup bread crumbs
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon of piment d’Espelette
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon cumin
salt and pepper, to taste
1 cup Basmati rice
1 Tablespoon butter
1 cup water or chicken broth

Choose tomatoes of the same size and give them a rinse. Cut the tomatoes a half inch from the stalk to make the cap. With a spoon, remove the seeds and the central pulp and reserve. Place the tomatoes upside down on a dish to drain excess.

Separately, in a bowl, prepare the tomato stuffing with ground pork, chopped onion and all the spices. Drain the tomato pulp and add it to the stuffing after chopping it. Finish with salt, pepper and bread crumbs.

Preheat the oven to 350 ° F. In your oven dish, add rice, salt, butter and a cup of water or chicken broth. Salt the inside of the tomatoes and stuff them. Add the thyme.

Bake for about 1 hour and 30 minutes. Check every 20 minutes to make sure there is still enough liquid water so the rice will cook. If the rice is dry, please add more liquid.

For the vegetarians, you could substitute chunks of vegetables like zucchini or mushrooms instead of ground pork and vegetable broth instead of chicken broth.

Bon appétit!