Stuffed Tomatoes with Beef, Eggplant, and Currants

Updated at: Tue, 29 Oct 2024 20:45:22 GMT

Step 1

1 Make the stuffed tomatoes: Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Step 2

2 In a medium bowl, toss the eggplant with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and a sprinkle of salt. Arrange the eggplant slices on a baking sheet and roast until golden brown, 10 to 15 minutes. Flip the slices and repeat. Set aside.

Step 3

3 Thinly slice off the tops of the tomatoes and use a spoon to gently scoop the pulp out into a bowl. Be sure to leave a sturdy shell to stuff the filling into. Place the gutted tomatoes on a sheet pan and set aside. Roughly chop the tomato pulp and set aside.

Step 4

4 In a sieve, rinse the rice for 1 minute under cool running water. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, add the rice, and cook the rice for half of the time recommended on the package. (The rice will continue to cook in the tomato, so you're just parcooking it here.) Drain the rice and return it to the empty pot. Dice the roasted eggplant and add it to the rice. Set aside.

Step 5

5 In a large skillet, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion, garlic, turmeric, coriander, cumin, cinnamon, and harissa and cook until the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in the reserved tomato pulp and the tomato paste and cook until reduced slightly, about another 3 minutes. Add the beef and continue cooking until the beef has browned, 7 to 10 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and add the currants and the rice-eggplant mixture. Mix thoroughly to combine and season well with more salt, if needed.

Step 6

6 Fill the hollowed-out tomatoes with the beef and rice mixture and set them back on the sheet.

Step 7

7 Make the garlicky bread crumbs: In a blender or food processor, pulse the bread crumbs until fine. Add the olive oil, garlic, and salt. Pulse briefly to combine.

Step 8

8 Top the stuffed tomatoes with the bread crumbs and drizzle about a teaspoon of olive oil over each tomato.

Step 9

Bake for about 30 minutes, or until the bread crumbs are golden brown and crisp and the rice is cooked through.

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