Before we left for the Farmer’s Market on Saturday morning I thought about what I wanted to post this week. I thought about a couple of recipes that sounded good. However, once we got the the market my plans totally changed based on the vegetables that caught my eye. I first noticed these gorgeous huge tomatoes and I knew exactly what I needed to make with them.

The tomatoes needed to turn into one of my favorite types of dolmeh, Tomato Dolmeh! I am a bit particular about stuffed tomatoes. I personally like them to hold their shape and not get so overcooked that they fall apart and onto themselves. There is a very simply trick to make them so that they don’t fall apart and the button doesn’t get burned. The trick is to bake them without any type of liquid and place parchment paper in order to avoid the button from burning.

Ingredients

4 large tomateos
1/2 lb ground beef
1/2 cup cooked rice
1 cup onion, small diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup parsley, packed
1 cup green onions (or chives), chopped
1/2 cup mint, packed
1 tbsp tarragon, chopped
2 tsp Advieh
1 cup tomato pulp
salt & pepper
oil

Wash tomatoes and cut the top portion. Remove pulp with a melon baller or a paring knife and teaspoon. Make sure to take enough pulp out so that there is 1/4 of inch left on all sides of the tomato. Save pulp. Turn each tomato upside down on a paper towel.

Saute onion and minced garlic in some oil until translucent. Add meat and cook until it turns brown. Add 1 cup of chopped tomato pulp including some of the juice. Season with salt and pepper an cook uncovered until the meat cooks all the way through and the juices completely evaporate.

Fine chop parsley and mint. Add parsley, mint, tarragon, green onions, and Advieh to the meat. Mix well.

Add rice and once again mix well. Make sure to check seasoning at this point and adjust as needed. Cook for a couple of minutes longer.

Season the inside of each tomato with some salt. Don’t skip this step, it totally makes a huge difference taste wise! Evenly devide the stuffing between the four tomatoes pressing down so that it all fits. Sprinkle a touch of salt on the tops and place on each corresponding tomato. Line an ovenproof dish with parchment paper, lightly spray with oil, and arrange tomatoes in the dish.

Bake at 350° for 20 to 25 minutes. That’s all there is to this recipe, pretty simple and very delicious!!!