tomates farcies/sausage with arugula

breadcrumb topped baked tomatoes

Happy Thanksgiving, and greetings from Boston!

I know that I am supposed to be writing about squash and turkeys and things, because it's Thanksgiving, but I'm not going to to do that. Sorry. You're probably sick of those things anyway; perhaps even literally. Instead I am going to bring you back to those warmer days of early fall, with late tomatoes, for this recipe that Nathan's mom, Tenli, gave us for baked tomatoes.


our french tomato dinner plate

Nathan's stepmom, Marie, is French, and her very French mother, Jackie, gave this recipe to Tenli, who passed it along to us. It's very easy and a great way to serve a ripe, juicy tomato. Just promise me you won't try to make this with the mealy pink type you're likely to find in the grocery store this time of year. It's just not worth it.

Once you've got your hands on some good tomatoes, say like next July, this is what you're going to do: cut a beefsteak tomato in half, and cover the cut surface with a mix of breadcrumbs, minced garlic, parsley, salt and pepper, moistening the mixture with a drizzle of olive oil. Bake it at 425˚ for about 12 minutes. I put it in the toaster oven, which worked pretty well, but it got a little crispy on top being so close to the heat. With that, you've got yourself a great little side dish!


sausage and wilted arugula

We ate our tomatoes with some ravioli with butter and cheese, chopped up sausage, and arugula that I briefly sauteed in the sausage fat. It was super delicious. Thanks to Tenli for hooking us up with such a brilliantly easy and yummy meal!

Normally, I don't bother trying to write up a recipe, but since Tenli took the trouble of sending this one to us, I'm going to pass it along to you readers directly. Don't get used to it!

Tomates Farcies
serves 2 as a side dish, 4 as a starter

Preheat oven to 425, and put one of the oven racks at the top of the oven.

Take two large tomatoes in season (beefsteak or a large heirloom variety are both delicious!) Cut in half and place cut side up on a baking sheet covered in foil.
Combine:
3TBS bread crumbs
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 TBS parsley
Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Distribute crumb/garlic/parsley mixture evenly between the tomato halves, then drizzle each one with +/- 1 TBS olive oil

Bake in top of oven for around 12-15 minutes.

Very tasty!