Eckart Witzigmann's recipes: Tomatoes stuffed with rice

Eckart Witzigmann's culinary Notes

Tomatoes stuffed with rice – ‘simple and fantastic’

Cut off the tops of the tomatoes using a sharp knife and carefully remove the seeds and tomato flesh from inside without damaging the skin (ideally use a small spoon or Parisienne baller). Onset the tops aside.
Place the seeds and flesh of the tomato into a bowl and add salt, pepper and some sugar. This will be needed for the tomato sauce.
Cook the rice for approx. 8 minutes in salted water, pour into a sieve and rinse with cold water.
Cut day-old white bread or rolls into 2cm thick slices and moisten with water. When soft, squeeze out the water.
Sprinkle the hollowed out tomatoes with salt and freshly ground pepper and a dash of sugar then place upside down on a rack for the juices to drain.
Clean and cut the mushrooms into fine pieces. Peel the shallots and cut into fine pieces then wash and finely chop the parsley and 2 cloves of garlic.
Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a Teflon pan, lightly sauté the shallots and garlic, before they turn colour add the chopped mushrooms, salt, pepper, a dash of lemon juice and the parsley. Leave to cool.
Chop the cooked ham into fine cubes and chop the peeled onions, English celery (inside) and the garlic. Sauté these ingredients in a Teflon pan with olive oil until just before they turn brown and then leave to cool.
Now add the high-quality sausage meat to a bowl along with the bread (which has been squeezed out), mushrooms, ham and mince. Mix with a large spoon to create an even mass. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg.
PS: If you wish, you can add ground fennel or coriander seeds for an exquisite taste

Cooking:

Turn over the tomatoes and fill with the rice to form a dome-shape. The edge should remain clean.
Oil the earthenware, position the tomatoes close together and place in a pre-heated oven: 40 minutes at 170°C and then 40 minutes at 150°C. Add the tomato sauce and continue basting the tomatoes with it.
In the meantime, sauté the onions, English celery and tomato purée with the seasonings in 4 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the flesh from the tomatoes, season and cook until this concentrates into a sauce. Strain thoroughly.

During the last 20 minutes, I sprinkle the mixed herbs and white bread on top of the tomatoes.

10 minutes before the end, I cover each tomato with a tomato top, insert a small bay leaf in each and increase the oven temperature to 220°C.

Before serving, wait a while (approx. 5 minutes) then serve with puréed potato. A lot of work – but well worth while!

Further Information

IngredientsJournal

Recipe for 8 tomatoes
4 portions or 8 starters

Ingredients:

8 firm and fully ripe tomatoes of approx. 140g each
150 g round Italian rice
½ lemon
6 tbsp Cretan olive oil
300 g raw sausage meat
75 g white bread
150 g cooked ham
50 g white onions
50 g English celery
5 g garlic (or more to taste)
150 g porcini mushrooms
15 g shallots
8 fresh bay leaves
Mix the following with 30 g white bread crumbs (made without crust):
7 g flat leaf parsley
7 g oregano
7 g basil
3 g thyme needles
salt, pepper
nutmeg