These make a great vegetable main course, but if you leave the parmesan off the top, they’ll suit vegans too.
Ingredients
—175g (1 cup) freekeh 2½ cups water 8 large tomatoes 1 Tbsp lemon-infused extra virgin olive oil Finely grated zest 1 lemon 1 Tbsp lemon juice 1 tsp salt 1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed 1 tsp crushed coriander seeds 2 Tbsp chopped basil 2 Tbsp grated grano padano or parmesan 1 Tbsp panko crumbs (whiz them finer in a spice blender if you can, or crush with a rolling pin) Extra virgin olive oil for drizzling
Method
—1 Put the freekeh in a sieve and rinse under running water. Transfer to a small saucepan with the measured water, bring up to a bubble and cook gently for 20 minutes (without a lid). Drain, rinse well with warm water, then drain for a further 5 minutes. If freekeh seems particularly wet, bundle it up in a clean cloth and press gently to extract water. Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F).
2 Cut the tops off the tomatoes, carefully scoop out seeds and flesh and season inside tomatoes with some of the salt, then turn them upside down to drain for 5 minutes.
3 Mix lemon oil, zest and juice in a bowl with salt, garlic, coriander seeds and basil. Add the freekeh, toss together and pile into the tomatoes. Put the caps on the tomatoes then transfer them to a shallow ovenproof dish lined with baking (parchment) paper. Sprinkle with parmesan and panko crumbs and drizzle with a little oil.
4 Bake for about 30 minutes, until tomatoes are coloured on top and a little crusty.
Recipe Notes
The panko crumbs will stick to the top of the tomatoes if they are whizzed finer in a spice grinder – or smash with the end of a rolling pin.
Serve the tomatoes with labna, cucumber wedges and a green salad.
Read more about freekeh here, and also check out Stuffed Peppers with Freekeh
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