Really easy recipe for an antipasto or side dish. Best of all, I can prepare them a day in advance. I use small tomatoes (not cherry tomatoes) and just 1 tomato per person. The original dish is called Tomates à l’Antiboise, after the town of Antibes in the South of France.
Yield: 4
Time: 60 minutes
Ingredients:
- 8 firm medium-sized tomatoes
- 4 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 medium-sized onion finely chopped
- coarse sea salt and freshly ground pepper
- 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
- 2 anchovies, rinsed
- about 10 basil leaves
- 1 cup (45 g) fresh breadcrumbs
- 2 hard cooked eggs, shelled and chopped
- extra dried breadcrumbs for sprinkling
Preparation:
Slice off the top of each tomato and scrape out the flesh. Discard the top’s stem. Chop the top and scraped out flesh and reserve it. Salt and pepper the inside of the tomatoes. Turn them upside down over a paper towel and let them drain for about 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease a gratin dish with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Warm 2 tablespoons olive oil in a small saucepan. Add onion and garlic and cook them until soft, about 10 minutes. Raise the heat to high, add the reserved tomato flesh and sauté quickly until the flesh begins to fall apart about 5-10 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.
In a mortar pound together the coarse salt, pepper, anchovies, and basil to form a paste. Stir in 1 tablespoon olive oil. Add the 1 cup (60 g) of breadcrumbs. Add this paste to the onion-tomato mixture. Add the chopped eggs. If the mixture seems too stiff, add extra olive oil. Stuff the tomato shells with the mixture. Place them in a gratin dish, sprinkle them with the extra breadcrumbs and dribble a bit of olive oil over it. Bake until tomatoes are tender and breadcrumbs are golden brown for about 30 minutes.
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