This recipe stemmed from having some beautiful large tomatoes just on the turn!
A spicy Middle-Eastern style meal which uses those large summer tomatoes, homegrown or bought. Very good served warm or cold as a meal or as a side – so extremely flexible!
Another easy meal to prepare and cook in any kitchen and to enjoy indoors or outside, with a view.
Perfect for vegans by replacing the feta with a non-dairy alternative.
Depending on the size of your tomatoes, you may have some filling leftover which I enjoy, the next day, dotted with feta.
Portions: 2 to 3
Prep and Cook Time: Over 1 hour
Cookware: Small foil-covered roasting tray, a large frying pan and a bowl for bulgar wheat
Oven: 180C / Gas 5
- 6 large tomatoes
- 1 red onion – finely diced
- 2 garlic cloves – finely chopped
- 1 small courgette – finely diced
- 2 tsp harissa paste
- 1 tsp tomato purée
- 1 tbsp pinenuts – dry toasted
- 1 tbsp flat-leaved parsley – chopped
- 50g bulgar wheat or couscous – covered with 100ml of boiling water to swell and cook
- 2 tsp pomegranate molasses
- 1 tsp tomato purée
- 100g feta – roughly chopped
- 200g chickpeas – drained
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
- pinch of salt flakes
Method
Slice off the tomato tops and carefully scoop out the pulp, seeds and liquid. Pop into a bowl and chop.
Before using the frying pan, dry toast the pinenuts and put aside. Heat a tbsp of oil in the frying pan and sauté the onions and courgette until soft. Add the garlic and tomato pulp, mix well and cook together for 5 minutes then mix in the cooked bulgar wheat, harissa paste and tomato purée.
Turn off the heat and sprinkle in the pinenuts and parsley – give it a good stir. Your filling is ready.
With a teaspoon, fill the tomato shells until overfilled and pop on their lids.
Mix the paprika and salt into the chickpeas and place around the filled tomatoes.
Combine the pomegranate molasses and tomato puree with 2 tsp warm water and spoon over the tomatoes.
Cook for 25 minutes, until lovely and soft with slightly charred edges. Sprinkle over the feta and pop back into the oven for 5 minutes. Add a splash of water to the pan if the tomatoes and chickpeas appear a little dry.
Serve
Spoon the tomatoes into bowls and serve as a side or with a salad or green veggies. This is a filling and well balanced meal, so these tomatoes are perfect as a main!
I like to drizzle with a little more pomegranate molasses.
Enjoy!
