Mini tomates farcies (Sausage and mushroom stuffed cherry tomatoes)
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
A pretty, perfect holidays hors d'oeuvre.
Author:
Recipe type: Appetiser
Cuisine: French
Serves: 16
Ingredients
  • 32 cherry tomatoes with their stems still attached*
  • 200g mushrooms (I used white), roughly chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
  • 2 sausages (approx. 200g) – I chose a classic “French country” sausage made with pork
  • ¼ cup panko breadcrumbs plus more for sprinkling
  • 1 teaspoon Herbes de Provence seasoning
  • freshly ground pepper (if your sausage meat is not seasoned you might want a pinch or two of salt too)
  • olive oil for drizzling
Instructions
  1. Pre-heat the oven to 400˚F.
  2. Cut the tops off the cherry tomatoes (about ¾ of the way up the tomato from the bottom) being careful to keep the stems intact.
  3. Use a small, curved paring knife, carefully cut the flesh out of the inside of each tomato. Place the “lid” with the bottom half of the tomato upside down on a paper towel to drain. Repeat for all tomatoes.
  4. While the tomatoes are draining begin the filling.
  5. In a food processor fitted with the metal blade, blitz the mushrooms and garlic cloves until finely chopped.
  6. Slit the skin of each sausage and remove the meat from the casings. Discard the casings and place the meat in a small bowl with the mushrooms/ garlic, panko, Herbes de Provence and pepper. Use your hands to mix until all ingredients are well-combined.
  7. Make sure you are using a baking dish that will fit the tomatoes in snugly.
  8. Place the tomatoes in the baking dish (making sure to keep track of which lid belongs to which tomato) and use a tablespoon measure to scoop out the sausage/ mushroom mixture. Roll the scoops lightly between your hands and place in the tomatoes. Continue until all tomatoes are filled.
  9. Place the lids on each tomato, drizzle the tops with olive oil and sprinkle over a little more panko so each lid had a sprinkling.
  10. Bake at 400˚F for 30 minutes or until the filling has reached a temperature of 160˚F (use a meat thermometer to check).
  11. Remove from oven and allow to cool to just warm or room temperature then serve (when they are hot, they are a bit difficult to to handle, unless they are secured with a pick - see notes).
Notes
* Note that for presentation the stems are very pretty but for a party, I would remove the stems and pierce each tomato with a long bamboo pick to make for easier eating (one bite) and no worrying about accidentally eating the stem!
Recipe by eat. live. travel. write. at https://www.eatlivetravelwrite.com/2016/12/mini-tomates-farcies-the-perfect-holiday-hors-doeuvre/