Stuffed tomatoes with lamb mince, dill & rice

Stuffed tomatoes with lamb mince, dill & rice

These juicy tomatoes improve in flavour if cooked the day before you serve them. You can easily make them veggie too

Difficulty and servings

Easy

Serves 4

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 20 mins

Cook time

Cook 45 mins

Method

  1. Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Slice the tops off the tomatoes and reserve. Scoop out most of the pulp with a teaspoon, being careful not to break the skin. Finely chop the pulp, and keep any juices. Sprinkle the insides of the tomatoes with a little sugar to take away the acidity, then place them on a baking tray.
  2. Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a large frying pan, add the onion and garlic, then gently cook for about 10 mins until soft but not coloured. Add the lamb, cinnamon and tomato purée, turn up the heat, then fry until the meat is browned. Add the tomato pulp and juice, the rice and the stock. Season generously. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 15 mins or until the rice is tender and the liquid has been absorbed. Set aside to cool a little, then stir in the herbs.
  3. Stuff the tomatoes up to the brim, top tomatoes with their lids, drizzle with 2 tbsp more olive oil, sprinkle 3 tbsp water into the tray, then bake for 35 mins. Serve with salad and crusty bread, hot or cold.
Try

Moussaka-stuffed tomatoes

Place 1 large aubergine on a baking tray, then roast for 30 mins at 200C/180C fan/ gas 6, until tender. Once cool enough to handle, peel and dice the flesh. Follow recipe as above, folding the chopped aubergine into the lamb mix. Spoon a little ready-made béchamel sauce over each tomato before putting the lids on, then bake.

Variations

These improve in flavour if you cook them the day before you want to serve. Add a drop of water and cover with foil when reheating, or simply serve at room temperature. You can vary the filling by adding feta or broad beans, or even omit the meat entirely and replace chicken for vegetable stock for a great veggie meal.

300 kcalories, protein 14.0g, carbohydrate 21.0g, fat 19.0 g, saturated fat 5.0g, fibre 2.0g, sugar 8.0g, salt 0.3 g

Recipe from Good Food magazine, September 2009.

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Latest comments and suggestions

  • Binder photo jyb112

    10 September 2009

    jyb112 commented on this recipe

    My girlfriend has an unatural dislike for lamb. Can i use extra lean beef mince instead???

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  • Binder photo weavers

    08 October 2009

    weavers rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    Really tasty and easy! Stuffed tomatoes but also stuffed mushrooms with the filling. Tomato tasted the best!

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  • Binder photo JOOLES

    16 October 2009

    JOOLES commented on this recipe

    jyb112 i dont see any reason why you cant use Lean beef instead of lamb.

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  • Binder photo Jenny Hulme

    27 October 2009

    Jenny Hulme rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    I have used lean minced beef because we can rarely get minced lamb. It worked very well. The stuffing also freezes well if you make a double batch.

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  • Binder photo Vixx811

    28 February 2010

    Vixx811 rated this recipe

    5 stars

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  • Binder photo Eleanor

    01 April 2010

    Eleanor commented on this recipe

    Fantastic with a avacado and baby leaf salad. Use long red peppers as well as tomatoes to stuff

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  • Binder photo Pewtersfood

    27 April 2010

    Pewtersfood rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    the mince mix alone is really tasty - used 2 cinnamon sticks (no ground) & a brown sugar cube in each tomato. Could have lived without the tomatoes actually but my guy who hates them went back for seconds.

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  • Binder photo Jane

    26 April 2011

    Jane rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Made this a couple of times. Absolutely delicious.

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  • Binder photo RenieCooks

    21 May 2011

    RenieCooks rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    This is one of our all time favourites. The fresh dill and herbs really makes it. :) Have done this with beef mince but prefer the lamb flavour.

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  • Binder photo Scrappydoo

    09 July 2011

    Scrappydoo rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    This is an excellent stuffed tomato dish. Very authentic Greek with the cinnamon and dill. I stirred some diced feta through the stuffing mixture. Will make it again.

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  • Binder photo The Cherub

    12 August 2011

    The Cherub rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Yummy. I also added some finely diced courgette as I had it in the fridge. Was easy to do although I would perhaps use less of the herbs next time as there was a lot! I served with a green salad. Will definately make again.

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  • Binder photo carolj

    11 September 2011

    carolj commented on this recipe

    we cant get minced lamb here in France and minced beef is horrendously expensive so I used minced pork, Delicious!! also added a few flaked almonds and dried apricots!!

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  • Binder photo Dominika

    22 October 2011

    Dominika rated this recipe

    5 stars

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  • Binder photo lizleicester

    20 April 2012

    lizleicester rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    Deliciou result even without the mint. Loved the dill in particular.

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  • Binder photo yumyum

    15 May 2012

    yumyum rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    I've made these many times and serve them with the cucumber and tomato salad featured on the same page in the magazine at the time. Delicious!

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  • Binder photo zhagan

    27 May 2012

    zhagan rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    quick to make and tastes yummy. i have also done this recipe with peppers

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  • Binder photo Goldie

    22 June 2012

    Goldie rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Really handy recipe to have in the repoirtoire. Disagree a little with the time it takes to make though - haven't done it in under 90 minutes yet.

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  • Binder photo JulesTheNorweegie

    25 October 2012

    JulesTheNorweegie rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    Made this yesterday, but used red peppers instead of tomatoes, and it worked a treat! Boiled the rice separately in the stock with some seasoning because I used brown rice that takes longer to cook. Once it was finished, I added it to the pan with the meat mix - delicious :) You gotta big heavy handed with the spices though I found

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  • Binder photo cherrygogo

    28 November 2012

    cherrygogo commented on this recipe

    Made it yesterday. Used 6 beef tomatoes with the quantity indicated and it was really delicious!

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  • Binder photo laurapat1

    13 January 2013

    laurapat1 commented on this recipe

    I dont like mint or cinamon so i left out, turned out nice. Wouldnt make as a weeknight meal too much work for after work.

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Difficulty and servings

Easy

Serves 4

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 20 mins

Cook time

Cook 45 mins

Ingredients

  • 4 beef tomatoes
  • pinch sugar
  • 4 tbsp Greek extra virgin olive oil , plus extra to drizzle
  • 1 Spanish onion , finely chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves , finely chopped
  • 200g minced lamb
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 2 tbsp tomato purée
  • 50g long grain rice
  • 100ml chicken stock
  • 4 tbsp chopped dill
  • 2 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley
  • 1 tbsp chopped mint
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300 kcalories, protein 14.0g, carbohydrate 21.0g, fat 19.0 g, saturated fat 5.0g, fibre 2.0g, sugar 8.0g, salt 0.3 g

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