Rice-stuffed tomatoes

Stuffed vegetables - peppers, courgette, aubergine or tomatoes - are a fun, imaginative and unusual way to tempt those who normally don’t like veg. All you have to do is come up with a filling that will entice your guests, stuff your chosen veg, and off you go! The rest of it is done in the oven while you do something more interesting. If you wish, you can make the classic with a filling of ground beef; or you can choose to create a filling lighter but equally tasty, using rice, couscous, bulgur wheat or just breadcrumbs. This recipe is based on basmati rice, a lightweight and incredibly fragrant rice that will make your tomatoes a triumph of lightness and health. And so as not to disappoint meat-lovers, we decided to add a bit of fresh sausage, tasty and delicious.

Cook the basmati rice as follows: put it in a non-stick saucepan and cover with water plus one finger’s worth. Add a pinch of salt, cover, bring to the boil and then simmer on the lowest flame, without removing the cover, for 12 minutes then turn off the heat. Wait another 12 minutes before removing the lid. Meanwhile, cut the top off the tomatoes, remove their flesh and seeds, add salt and pepper and position them so that they drain any excess liquid. Finely chop some celery, carrot and onion, fry them briefly in a pan with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Crumble the sausage meat in the same pan, let it cook for a few seconds, then pour in the white wine and deglaze. Transfer everything to a bowl and add the chopped parsley and basmati rice. Season with salt and pepper, then use this mixture to fill the tomatoes, pressing it in with your fingers. Place them in a baking dish greased with oil, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, cover the tomatoes with their previously cut off "lids", sprinkle with salt and pepper and bake at 180°C for 35 minutes in a fan oven.