Vegan Food & Living - October 2017

200g (7oz) small-medium

vine-ripened tomatoes

80ml (2½fl oz) extra-

virgin olive oil

sea salt

2 large shallots,

thinly sliced

1 tsp Turkish red

chilli fl akes

80ml (2½fl oz)

vegetable stock

15 saffron threads

4 large beefsteak

tomatoes (or another

large variety)

FOR THE STUFFING

120g (4¼oz) medium-

coarse bulgur wheat

40ml (1¼fl oz) olive oil

2 small shallots,

fi nely chopped

2 garlic cloves,

fi nely chopped

2 tbsp barberries

(barberries are available

from Persian stores or

some Middle Eastern

stores. If you can’t

fi nd them, use dried

cranberries or cherries)

½ tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp ground allspice

2 tbsp pistachio slivers

½ tsp sea salt

½ tsp freshly ground

black pepper

Baked tomatoes with saff ron,

bulgur and barberries

By Greg and Lucy Malouf

Serves 4 | Prep 20 mins plus soaking | Cook 45 mins | Calories 375 (per serving)

1 For the stuffing, soak the bulgur

wheat in boiling water for 20 minutes,

then tip into a sieve to drain. Use

your hands to squeeze out as much

water as you can, then set aside.

2 Heat the oil in a small frying pan.

Add the shallots, garlic, barberries

and spices and sauté for a few

minutes until the shallots soften. Add

the bulgur wheat and pistachios and

season with salt and pepper.

3 Stir to combine and set aside until

ready to cook the tomatoes.

4 Preheat the oven to 180°C/Gas

Mark 4.

5 Arrange the vine-ripened tomatoes

in a roasting tin. Drizzle on half the

oil and sprinkle with salt. Roast for

10 minutes, or until the skins split.

Peel away and discard the skins. Add

the shallots, chilli, stock and saffron.

6 Working from the stalk end, carefully

slice out the cores from the large

tomatoes, then scoop out as much

of the flesh as you can with a

melon baller or teaspoon. With true

‘stuffing’ varieties, you’ll find that

the seeds are all clustered close to

the centre, with a fair amount of

space around them, making it easy

to scoop them out. Chop the flesh

finely and mix it into the bulgur

stuffing mixture (see tip). Divide

the stuffing evenly between the

tomatoes, packing it in tightly.

7 Sit the tomatoes on top of the

vegetables in the roasting tin. Cover

the tin with foil and then bake for

30 minutes. Serve hot from the

oven, or at room temperature.

TIP In the winter, most large varieties

of tomato have watery, tasteless flesh.

We’d suggest discarding this, as it adds

almost nothing in terms of flavour.

Instead, double the amount of vine-

ripened tomatoes and, after roasting

and peeling, remove half the amount

from the tin, chop them evenly and add

this to the stuffing mix.

Weekend^ RECIPES

80 VEGAN FOOD & LIVING OCTOBER

Total fat Saturates Salt Sugar Protein

29.9g 4.4g 0.31g 0.4g 4.3g

VFL17.Weekend.indd 80 06/09/2017 15:58