Provencal Stuffed Tomatoes

⏳ Time

45 minutes

🥕 Ingredients

🍽️ Servings

Description

This recipe is a reinterpretation of the Niçoise salad, but presented in a different form. It’s worth noting that in the classic salad, tomatoes serve as the base in the literal sense; all the other ingredients—beans, tuna, and capers—are layered on top of sliced tomatoes. However, since we bake the Niçoise in the tomatoes, we’ve added cheese and thyme to enhance the southern flavor and achieve a gooey cheese crust. One important tip: avoid using 'plastic' supermarket tomatoes in any form; opt for real, field-grown, summer tomatoes.

Ingredients

Tomatoes - 4 pieces
Chinese green beans - 1.8 oz
Canned tuna in its own juice - 4.2 oz
Spanish onions - 1.8 oz
Capers - 0.5 oz
Breadcrumbs - 2 spoons
Fresh basil leaves - 0.9 oz
Garlic - 1 clove
Parsley - 0.5 oz
Thyme - 2 sprigs
Parmesan Cheese - 1.8 oz
Pistachios - 1.1 oz
Olive Oil - 0 fl oz
Salt - to taste
Ground Black Pepper - to taste

Step by Step guide

Step 1

Prepare all the ingredients.

Step 2

Cut out the cores of the tomatoes with a knife, removing the partitions and seeds, while leaving the intact cups that can be filled.

Step 3

Finely chop all the flesh that was removed from the tomatoes.

Step 4

Finely chop the beans and blanch them in boiling water for 2 minutes (or a little longer if they are frozen). Immediately drain them into a bowl of ice water to preserve their color.

Step 5

Drain the liquid from the can of tuna and flake the fish with a fork into small pieces.

Step 6

Peel the red onion and chop it finely. Also chop the capers.

Step 7

In a bowl, combine the beans, onion, chopped tomato cores, tuna, capers, and 1 tablespoon of breadcrumbs. Season with salt and pepper, then mix well.

Step 8

Fill the tomatoes with the filling. Mix the remaining breadcrumbs with half of the grated cheese and sprinkle them over the tomatoes. Bake in a preheated oven at 428°F for 5 minutes.

Step 9

Meanwhile, prepare the sauce. Blend the basil, parsley, thyme leaves, garlic clove, nuts, and remaining cheese until smooth. Gradually add olive oil until you reach the desired consistency.