Can you Show me the Way to the Garden, Please?
This time of year offers some of the nicest months in New England. I am fond of it. Summer is usually no longer scorching hot, and humid days are scarce. I like to notice that things become quieter too. Have you noticed how loud summer can be? It never fails to surprise both P. and I. Whether it is the crickets, the cars, people screaming in the street, our neighbors even, or just the sunlight that I find *loud* since it is so much in our faces all the time, I do not know what it is but I always think that summer is much louder than fall, not to mention winter when snow makes everything so nicely peaceful. Seasons do speak and produce sounds! Whereas everything seems to be more agressive in July, in August however, everything seems cooler, even with temperatures in the 80s. They just feel different. In fact, the transition between summer and fall is one of my favorite times of year in Boston: we usually enjoy beautiful Indian summers. And how nice those are here! If the last few weeks we have had mark the end of bye-bye awful hot weather to hello-nice Indian summery days, then I am very happy. I can sleep well since nights get cool and mornings are simply magical with breakfasts taken outside on the patio. A feeling of never-ending vacation. C’est pas fini, hein? (Not ended, is it?) July seems to have only been a haze with torrid heat — I can literally remember little of what I did since my head seemed to have constantly been overheated — but now, I feel regained energy. Ah que j’aime la fin du mois d’août et le mois de septembre en Nouvelle-Angleterre. (I love the end of August and September in New England).
Of course, I want to accomplish zillions of projects. And cooking ones as well. Clearly, twenty four hours in one day do not seem close to be sufficient to do it all. Pretty much the same for everyone, right? And my love for tomatoes is as big as ever. I just cannot get enough of the gorgeous looking Heirloom tomatoes found at local vegetable markets. I know that this looks like une scène de déjà-vu. But we have a saying in French. Quand on aime, on ne compte pas ! (When one loves, one does not count!). I believe that I must have said that I had a particular liking for stuffed foods, vegetables amongst others. What is not to like about those juicy-looking, red, round and fat tomatoes?
The combination of ricotta cheese with veal gives softness to both the texture and the flavor of this dish. When other stuffing recipes use garlic, onion or chair à saucisse (sausage meat), this farce is purposely void of them, to maintain the mild taste I was after. I can use ground veal alone, but I can also sometimes add ground lamb. Playing with various types of herbs and spices can bring totally different experiences as well. When you love to make stuffed vegetables, possibilities to make la farce (stuffing) are endless. I can confess: je pourrais manger cela tous les jours, vraiment ! (I could eat this every day, really!)
You need:
- 4 large local Heirloom tomatoes
- 7 to 9 oz ground veal
- 7 oz fresh ricotta (or 120 g)
- 1 Tbsp tarragon, chopped
- 1 Tbsp oregano, chopped
- 1 Tbsp parsley, chopped
- Salt and pepper
- Olive oil
- 1 egg
Steps:
- Wash your tomatoes and slice the top (half an inch). Remove the flesh inside with a spoon, sprinkle with salt and turn them face down on a cutting board. Leave them for 30 mns so that they give out some water.
- Preheat your oven at 350 F.
- In a bowl, mix together the chopped herbs with the ricotta cheese.
- Add the beaten egg and mix well. Season with salt and pepper.
- Add the ground veal.
- Put the stuffing in each tomato.
- Place the top of each tomato to cover them.
- Add a splash of olive oil and place them in an oven dish.
- Pour about half inch water in the dish and place it in the oven for about 1 hour. Check while they cook and add some juice on top if necessary.
Ingrédients :
- 4 grosses tomates Heirloom
- 200 à 250 g de veau haché
- 200 g de ricotta (or 120 g)
- 1 càs d’estragon, haché
- 1 càs d’origan, haché
- 1 càs de persil, haché
- Sel et poivre
- Huile d’olive
- 1 oeuf
Étapes :
- Lavez vos tomates et découpez un chapeau dans chacune d’entre-elles (1 cm). Evidez-les, saupoudrez-les de sel et retournez-les sur une planche à découper, partie bombée vers le haut. Laissez-les dégorger ainsi pendant 30 mns.
- Préchauffez votre four à 180 C.
- Dans un bol, mélangez les herbes hachées et la ricotta.
- Ajoutez l’oeuf battu et mélangez bien. Assaisonnez de sel et de poivre.
- Ajoutez le veau haché.
- Mettez de la farce dans chaque tomate.
- Remettez le chapeau sur chacune d’entre-elles.
- Arrosez d’un filet d’huile d’olive et mettez-les dans un plat allant au four.
- Versez 1 cm d’eau dans le plat et cuisez pendant 1 heure environ. Vérifiez en cours de cuisson si elles sont assez humides. Arrosez de jus sinon.
How I envy anyone who has cooler weather! It is still very hot and humid here. This dish looks very lovely!
Elles sont vraiment appétissantes tes tomates!
Think it’s really worth using heirlooms for this? They seem so special…I’d rather enjoy them other than stuffed, but that’s me.
Lovely as always. Ricotta and tomatoes are a great combination… but the veal… eh. Being a new transplant to Boston, I’m loving the weather too!
Lucky you with all the lovely weather. We’re hot and muggy all year round. I was also very very inspired by your chocolate cupcakes, Bea. If I were to be as industrious as you, I’d have to live in my kitchen!
Oh, these look so lovely. My mom used to make some darn good ones when we lived in Provence. I miss having seasons, here in SC it’s summer than more summer.
Summer tomatoes are just the best.
Wish we were sharing in some of that cooler temp; it was 103° here today and at 10PM it’s still 95°. Oh, hooray for cool.
Sigh…we don’t have the 4 distinct seasons where I live so I have only experienced them abroad and not on a regular basis…the summer to fall shift sounds lovely…
Those stuffed tomatoes look beautiful! I have been meaning to make a stuffed tomato dish (with rice) like the ones I tried in Greece but this looks tempting as well 🙂
You have a gorgeous blog!
Béa, je ne vais pas être très originale en te complimentant une fois de plus pour tes superbes clichés !
De plus, ton billet tombe à pic puisque j’ai moi aussi prévu des tomates farcies au veau pour ce midi ! J’y ajouterai donc la ricotta et le petit hachis d’herbes comme tu le préconises, histoire de varier un peu ma recette habituelle. Puis-je me permettre de te “voler” la dernière photo du Coin Français pour illustrer ma petite page oueb ?!
Délicieux ces tomates, veau et ricotta ça doit etre léger… et le petit hachis d’herbes…mmmmm!
Tiens tiens, une nouvelle recette de tomates farcies a la Bea. A retenir aussi celle-ci. J’utilise quelquefois l’estragon dans les tomates farcies, j’imagine qu’avec le veau le mariage est exquis.
Very nice – I like the idea of creamy ricotta in those stuffed heirlooms!
Béa, ta recette est un véritable délice, nous avons adoré ! Merci encore !
je retrouve avec plaisir ton blog et quelle recette! tout ce que j’aime, la ricotta, le veau et les tomates, accord idéal! et je suis entièrement d’accord avec toi, début septembre, j’ai toujours une forme d’excitation à l’idée de me relancer dans de nouveaux projets. pour l’instant, cependant, j’ai encore un rien la tête dans les vacances, et j’ai un peu de mal à reprendre le rythme!!
Un plat trés simple revu et revisité par tes soins devient du gras art, bravo!!
Mmm, I bet those are really delicious! I love how you put the tops back on, like hats holding down the bounty inside.
une fois de + ta recette me plait beaucoup..mais tu n’évides pas les tomates c’est bien cela?
The pictures are beautiful but i don’t like tomatoes !
Sounds wonderful!!!
simply fantastic bea! I have never tried veal and ricotta together, but this recipe sounds delicious.
Thanks for your comments. Merci à tous de vos commentaires. I really do love this recipe, even with Heirloom Jeff. I think they give great taste to the dish, because they are excellent quality tomatoes. Glad you enjoyed it Ingrid! Merci encore!
Je ne sais pas ce qui est le plus appétissant entre les photos et la recette : mon coeur balance ! Merveilleux blog en tout cas, quel plaisir ! – Delphine
testée et approuvée!
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