Stuffed baked tomatoes

Name: Stuffed baked tomatoes
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 1 h
Yield: 4
Ingredients: 12 classic vine tomatoes; ½ tbsp olive oil; ½ onion, finely chopped; 50 g Cooks’ Ingredients Diced Pancetta; 1 clove/s garlic, finely chopped; ¼ tsp fennel seeds, bashed in a pestle and mortar; 125 g pork sausages, casing removed and meat broken into little pieces; Pinch chilli flakes; 125 g veal mince; 10 basil leaves, torn; 1 tbsp finely chopped flat leaf parsley, plus more to serve (optional); 30 g fresh white breadcrumbs (use ciabatta or something that has a good flavour); 30 g ricotta; Extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling

If you think stuffed tomatoes are boring, try these Diana Henry beauties. You could use sausage meat in place of the sausages if you’d rather, but add the chilli as they should be a little spicy.

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HealthySource of fibre1 of your 5 a day

Serves4
CourseStarter
Prepare20 mins
Cook40 mins
Total time1 hr

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Ingredients

12 classic vine tomatoes
½ tbsp olive oil
½ onion, finely chopped
50g Cooks’ Ingredients Diced Pancetta
1 clove/s garlic, finely chopped
¼ tsp fennel seeds, bashed in a pestle and mortar
125g pork sausages, casing removed and meat broken into little pieces
Pinch chilli flakes
125g veal mince
10 basil leaves, torn
1 tbsp finely chopped flat leaf parsley, plus more to serve (optional)
30g fresh white breadcrumbs (use ciabatta or something that has a good flavour)
30g ricotta
Extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling

Method

Preheat the oven to 190ºC, gas mark 5. Cut the tops off the tomatoes – so you have a set of little hats – and, using a teaspoon and a small serrated knife, remove all the seeds and juices inside (I love these crushed and served on garlicky toast).
Heat the olive oil in a frying pan over a low heat and gently sauté the onion for 3-4 minutes until softening, then add the pancetta and cook until just colouring. Add the garlic and fennel seeds and cook for 2 minutes more. Leave to cool.
To make the stuffing, put everything else into a bowl with the sautéed onion and pancetta mixture. Combine with your hands and season well. Season the inside of each tomato, then spoon in the meat mixture to stuff. Put them into a roasting tin and put the hats on. Drizzle with some extra virgin olive oil.
Bake for 40 minutes, or until the tomatoes are tender but haven’t collapsed and the sausagemeat is cooked through with no pink meat remaining. Serve 3 tomatoes per person, scattered with more parsley if using. They should be warm, but not hot.