Persian ratatouille-baked tomatoes with cashew kibbeh crust

Name: Persian ratatouille-baked tomatoes with cashew kibbeh crust
Yield: Serve 4
Ingredients: 1 onion, chopped; 4 tablespoons olive oil; 4 tablespoons golden syrup; good pinch of saffron; salt and freshly ground black pepper; 175 ml white wine vinegar; 8 beef tomatoes, tops discarded and seeds scooped out; salt and freshly ground black pepper; 1 teaspoon orange zest; 3 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander; 1 tablespoon sugar; 50 g raisins; 175 g young leeks, cut into 1 cm lengths; 1 tablespoon tomato puree; 1 courgette, cut into 1 cm dice; 2 green peppers, deseeded and cut into 1 cm dice; 2 garlic cloves, crushed; 1 aubergine, cut into 1 cm dice; ½ teaspoon ground cumin; ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon; little olive oil; pinch of cayenne pepper; 100 g bulghur, soaked in warm water for 10 minutes; 50 g unsalted butter; 100 g cashew nuts; 100 g bulghur, soaked in warm water for 10 minutes

Preparation info

Serve
4

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

Pure Vegetarian

By Paul Gayler

Published 2006

About

Stuffed vegetables are popular all over the Middle East and date back to ancient times. They are served with a variety of sweet and sour sauces, ranging from spiced syrups of lime to tamarind and butter. The tomatoes can be prepared a day in advance and baked when needed. They are also delicious served cold with warm flatbread.

Ingredients

For the Tomatoes

4 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves

Main course
Vegetarian

Method

Preheat the oven to 160°C/325°F/gas mark 3. For the ratatouille, heat half the olive oil in a large pan over a moderate heat, add the onion and garlic and cook for