SERVES 4
Cooks around Spain love to stuff vegetables. Sometimes the filling is a vegetable mix (such as the stuffed eggplant on page 104), or puréed salt cod (such as the stuffed piquillo peppers on page 188). Usually, though, the filling has some meat. Ground beef is commonly blended with a bit of ground pork for flavor, but also to help keep it moist. The tomatoes should be tender, and just starting to crack. This recipe is from Natalia Reixach, an old friend from the foothills of the Pyrenees near Vic.
1. Cut the caps out of the tomatoes as if carving a Halloween pumpkin; reserve. Using a medium spoon, hollow out the inside of the tomatoes, reserving everything in a bowl. Feel for the edge of the tomato shell from the inside with the spoon and scrape around it, leaving the shell intact. Shake any liquid or seeds into the bowl. Pick out the tender parts of the core and reserve. Strain the seeds, reserving the juice. In a food processor or blender, purée the reserved tender parts and the juice.
2. Preheat the oven to 400°F/200°C/gas mark 6.
3. In a large skillet or sauté pan, heat 3 tablespoons of the olive oil over medium heat and add the onion. Cook until soft and translucent, 8 to 10 minutes. Generously season the beef and pork with salt and pepper and add along with the parsley and garlic. Cook until the meat is just browned. Add in one-fourth of the tomato purée. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook until the tomato begins to darken, about 5 minutes. Crush the pine nuts in a mortar or with the back of a spoon in a bowl and stir in. Remove from the heat.
4. Fill each tomato to the top with about ¼ cup/60 ml of the mixture. Replace the caps, fitting them on as well as possible. Arrange the tomatoes in a large baking dish or roasting pan. They can touch if they must, but only very lightly. Season the outsides with salt, and then pour the rest of the tomato purée over the stuffed tomatoes. Drizzle evenly with the remaining 4 tablespoons olive oil. Dribble about ¼ cup/60 ml water into the pan.
5. Bake uncovered for 40 to 45 minutes, or until the tomatoes are cooked through and just beginning to crack. Dribble more water into the pan if they threaten to scorch during cooking.
6. Place 2 tomatoes on each plate and spoon over some of the sauce. Serve hot.