Tomates farcies: A little taste of Southern France

I had some of the best meals of my life in France. From visiting my family, to studying abroad and then later, teaching English, my parents, sister and I have been to the Southern region of Provence close to 10 times (and it still isn't enough if you ask me)!

Châteauneuf-du-Pape vineyards

One of the 100 fountains in the city of Orange in Provence

Me in Cannes, when my dad came to visit!

(If you want the story behind these photos, check out the recap from my oooold blog)

As I set to enjoy my leftovers again, I'm reminded of two nights ago. For some reason, the idea of tomates farcies (stuffed tomatoes) remain trapped in my mind. I don't think I've even eaten them for several years, but was determined to try and make my own. This is a very regional cuisine, specific to the South of France, much like socca (chick pea crêpes), salade niçoise and ratatouille.

Traditionally, tomates farcies are stuffed with beef and other flavors. But I wanted to make my own twist on the dish, since it was a side to roasted pork.

TOMATES FARCIES:

• 6 tomatoes (I made the mistake of using small ones; the larger the better!)
• 1 t herbes de Provence (generally a mixture of savory, fennel, basil and thyme)
• 2 T chopped parsley
• 2 t salt
• 1 t pepper
• 2 T minced garlic
• 1/2 onion (chopped)
• 1/2 c panko (in place of ground beef)
• 3 T olive oil
• 1/3 c shredded parmesan cheese

To cook: Hollow out the tomatoes, setting aside the inside pulp. Caramelize that onion in the olive oil until golden brown then adding garlic, salt, pepper, parsley and herbes de Provence. Add panko bread crumbs until golden brown. Stuff the hollowed out tomatoes with the bread and herb mixture. Line a shallow baking dish with foil, place the stuffed tomatoes inside and cook at 400° for about 28 minutes. Remove tomatoes, top them with cheese and return to the oven for two more minutes.

Enjoy! :)

They were just as good as I remembered, although a little lighter than the last time due to the lack of meat. We ended up having waaay too much stuffing left over, so you could probably cut it in half, or use gigantic tomatoes. Maybe more than six!

As I mentioned earlier, the tomates went with a gigantic piece of pork that will probably give us three more meals and garlicy butternut squash (recipe is linked). That's probably the first time I've had savory butternut squash and I think I like it much better than maple butternut squash (eh, probably not!) ;)

I think it's safe to say that fall is here (maybe not in Phoenix, it's still 103° outside). Come back next time for another recipe involving panko bread crumbs and fried chicken!