This stuffed tomato recipe is perfect at highlighting the versatility of tomatoes. If you can get your hands on some home grown tomatoes even better. Make a tofu spring onion sauce and it will also suit the vegans in your life. Yumm!
Serves 6
Ingredients:
For the stuffed tomatoes
– 150g brown basmati rice
– 1 vegetable stock cube
– 200ml water
– 6 large tomatoes or 12 regular size tomatoes
– Extra virgin olive oil or cold pressed rape seed oil
– 1 clove garlic, minced
– 1 onion, finely chopped
– 25g toasted pine nuts (or toasted sunflower seeds)
– 1 tbsp fresh mint finely chopped
– 1 tbsp fresh parsley finely chopped
– 25g grated vegetarian parmesan style cheese (can use a vegan alternative parmesan style cheese)
– Sea salt
– Coarsely ground black pepper
For the yoghurt and mint sauce
– 250g thick natural yoghurt
– 2 tsp fresh mint finely chopped
– Sea salt
For the tofu spring onion sauce
– 180g cube tofu
– 3 spring onions, chopped (green part included)
– 1 tsp fresh mint finely chopped
– Squeeze fresh lemon juice
– Sea salt
Method:
1. Wash the rice and place in a pot along with the stock cube and the water. Place a tight lid on top, bring to a boil, the lower the heat and simmer for 45 minutes.
2. Slice the tops off the tomatoes and save them. Carefully scoop out the pulp. Chop and save along with the juices.
3. Preheat the oven to Gas 4/180C/350F.
4. Heat some oil in a pan, add the onion and garlic and cook over a medium heat until the onion is soft. Add the chopped tomato pulp and juices and a pinch of salt and cook until the juices have reduced. Turn off the heat.
5. Fluff up the cooked rice and add to the pan along with the mint, parsley, pine nuts(or sunflower seeds), and cheese. Stir well and check the seasoning.
6. Using a spoon stuff the tomatoes with the rice mix, leaving a little room to allow the rice to expand. Place the tomato tops on top of the stuffed tomatoes. Place in an oven proof dish and drizzle with a little olive oil.
7. Place in the middle of a preheated oven for 50 minutes to 1 hour.
8. To make the dressing, whisk together the yoghurt, mint and a pinch of salt and place in a bowl for serving on the side of the tomatoes.
9. For a vegan tofu spring onion dressing, place the tofu, spring onion, a small squeeze of lemon juice, mint and a pinch of salt into a food processor or the jug of a hand blender. Add some water gradually to create a smooth sauce. Check the seasoning. Place in a bowl for serving.
Blazing Salads Food Co. on Drury Street, Dublin 2 was opened in 2000 by Lorraine and Pamela Fitzmaurice and their brother Joe to bring quality take out vegetarian/vegan wholefood to the city centre. The origins of their knowledge of wholefoods comes from an upbringing of macrobiotics.
They are from a family who are passionate about wholefoods. Their parents opened ‘The Golden Dawn’ a macrobiotic wholefoods centre in Dublin in the 1970’s. Following on from that in 1982 Blazing Salads Restaurant was opened . As revolutionary as it was at the time, this kind of cooking has become part and parcel of what it is to eat well today. With over 3 decades of preparing and cooking great food, winning awards for their innovation, publishing 2 very successful cookbooks Lorraine and Pamela are known to be the frontrunners in vegan/wholefoods in Ireland .
Their brother Joe has gone on to open the award winning Riot Rye Bakehouse and Bread School in Cloughjordan Co Tipperary. www.riotrye.ie He is also a founding member of Real Bread Ireland.
Blazing Salads 42 Drury Street, Dublin 2, Ireland. www.blazingsalads.com
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