Tomates Farcie

Ingredients

• 6 large beef or Marmande tomatoes
• 50 grams of finely diced onion
• 30 grams of carrot (cut in half length ways then finely sliced)
• 30 grams of of finely sliced celery
• 30 grams of courgette - (cut in quarters length ways then finely sliced)
• 30 grams of fresh or frozen peas
• 100 grams of Basmati rice, rinsed and drained
• 75 grams of grated Gruyere cheese
• 2 tablespoons of pouring cream
• Sea salt & white pepper
• 1 teaspoon of fresh (or dried) thyme plus one bay leaf
• 20 grams of unsalted butter
• 1 medium onion, roughly diced
• 3 tablespoons of olive oil
• 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 2 sprigs of fresh thyme (or one teaspoon of dried)
• 4 ripe tomatoes, diced
• 100 grams of tomato purée
• 400 ml of cold water
• 1/2 teaspoon of sugar