This idea came from a recipe I read by Gregg Avedon, from it I have created a new recipe after seeing some very nice, large tomatoes. The recipe is great for breakfasts but also for main meals or even as a starter, it all depends on the size of your tomatoes. If you have left over mince, which I did, then you can freeze it or keep it in the fridge if you are on a run of shifts to quickly heat up for an easy breakfast. Feel free to adapt the quantities to your own personal requirements, the number of people it can serve is based purely on the amount of filling that was made, I only had three tomatoes to fill however, so technically it served three.

Beef Stuffed Tomatoes (Tom Bombs)

Preparation to Plate: 30 Minutes

Serves 3-6 People

Freezable

Keep refrigerated

Consume within 3 days

Ingredients:

320g Beef Mince

3 Large Beef Tomatoes

2 Medium Carrots, chopped

2 Small Courgettes, chopped

1 White Onion, chopped

1 Clove of Garlic, chopped

1 tbsp Dried Oregano

1 tbsp Dried Thyme

1 Small Bay Leaf

Tomato Purée

Olive Oil

Pepper & Salt

Recipe:

Cut the tops off the tomatoes so the tops form a little ‘lid’. Using a teaspoon or grapefruit spoon, scoop out the seeds and flesh of the tomatoes into a separate bowl. Ensure you don’t pierce the bottom of the tomatoes or split the sides, you only need to scoop out the middle bit so that it forms a ‘bowl’.

Fry the courgette, carrot and onions separately in oil until they become al dente. Add the tomato to the fried vegetables an onions and blitz with a handheld food processor until it has a purée consistency. Taste and season with pepper and salt.

In the same pan you fried the vegetables in, add some more olive oil to fry the beef mince in. Once the mince starts to brown add the garlic. When the mince has nearly fully cooked add the vegetable purée and stir together. Add the herbs, and some more salt and pepper if needed, mix together. Turn the heat up high and reduce the sauce for about five minutes, until the sauce has very little liquid left.

After the sauce has been reduced add a good squirt of tomato purée and mix together. Spoon out the beef mince and add to the ‘tomato bowls’, don’t press down too hard when filling them as you don’t want to break through the bottom. Serve with or without the lids and enjoy.