Tomatoes Stuffed with Couscous, White Beans and Feta

Instructions

1. 1

   Prepare the tomatoes

   Preheat the oven to 200 °C. Cut the tops off the tomatoes about 1 cm below the stems and set them aside. Scoop out the flesh with a teaspoon, leaving a wall about 1 cm thick around the edge. Finely chop the flesh.

   
2. 2

   Reduce the tomato base

   Finely dice the onion and chop the garlic. Heat 15 ml of olive oil in a pan and cook the onion over medium heat for 4 minutes, until softened and lightly golden. Add the garlic, oregano and chopped tomato flesh. Cook for 6–8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the watery juices have evaporated. Stir in the beans, 2 g of salt and the pepper, and heat for another 2 minutes.

   
3. 3

   Fluff the couscous

   Put the couscous in a bowl and add 1 g of salt. Pour over 200 ml of freshly boiled water, cover and leave to stand for 8 minutes. Then fluff it with a fork to separate the grains.

   
4. 4

   Mix the filling

   Slice the olives into rings and chop the parsley. Combine the couscous with the bean and tomato mixture, olives, parsley and lemon juice. Crumble in 90 g of feta and gently fold it in, leaving some larger pieces in the filling.

   
5. 5

   Stuff and bake

   Stand the hollowed tomatoes in a baking dish greased with the remaining 10 ml of olive oil. Fill them with the couscous mixture without packing it down, and scatter the remaining 30 g of feta on top. Place the reserved tomato tops beside the tomatoes. Bake for 23–27 minutes at 200 °C, until the tomatoes are tender but still hold their shape and the feta is lightly golden in places.

   
6. 6

   Finish and serve

   After baking, leave the tomatoes to rest for 5 minutes so the filling can set. Serve warm, spooning any juices from the baking dish onto the plates as well.