Shrimp Stuffed Tomatoes

   In August we visited Belgium, France, and The Netherlands (it was awesome!!!).
   
   When we first got to Belgium we visited with family who were so kind and gracious, and welcoming and wonderful! We were fed a beautiful meal, had coffee and cakes...yes, cakeS, 2 cakes to be exact!  Kindred spirits!  :)

   Anywho, one thing we were fed for dinner was shrimp stuffed tomatoes. We were all  "oooh", and "awwwww!", but apparently it's a common dish in Belgium, "tomate aux crevettes" !  It is a very simple dish of hollowed out tomatoes, stuffed with shrimp that has been mixed with mayonnaise and parsley, salt & pepper. So, it's a simple, and great (perfect, really) make-ahead meal! 

   Honestly, they were so darned tasty, I couldn't believe how simple they were to make! I knew when I got home, I was going to make this! And this is coming from someone who didn't really like shrimp until a few years ago, and still rarely eats them! I am also someone who never eats tomato unless it's with a million other yummy veggies in a salad, or on a sandwich.....as a BLT!  

   A few things though......they use "grey shrimp", or "grijze garnalen" in Flemish (otherwise known as Dutch....it's the same language, we found out!), and finding grey shrimp here in Canada (well, at the grocery stores I shop at!) is impossible! So, I settled for the smallest shrimp I could get. If you can find grey shrimp, use them, if not, just find a nice, small, cooked shrimp. 

   The other problem was that I wanted these to be paleo friendly....so I needed to tackle the mayo! If you Google "paleo mayonnaise" you'll get a pile of results. I decided on a mayo from Paleoleap.com. You can find it by clicking here.  You can also just use regular mayonnaise if you're not paleo/primal! 

Tomate Aux Crevettes (Shrimp Stuffed Tomatoes)


Ingredients:

• 4-6 Tomatoes, large ripe
  
• 2 Cups tiny shrimp (they need to be the cooked kind)-I used peeled & deveined pacific white shrimp, thawed and drained
• Paleo mayo (recipe here), You can also buy paleo mayo, btw. I haven't ever, but I guess you can!
• 3 Tbs of fresh parsley, chopped, or 2 Tsp dried
  
• Salt & pepper to taste

Method:

1. Cut a tiny portion of the BOTTOM of the tomatoes off if they are too round to sit up. If they can't sit up on their own they will fall over later when they are filled with shrimpy goodness, and that would suck!  :)  If they are sitting up independently, just leave their bottoms alone   
2. Cut the top off each tomato, and use a spoon to scoop out the tomato insides
3. In a large bowl, mix the mayo, parsley salt & pepper
4. Add in the shrimps and toss to coat
5. Now, fill each tomato with the shrimp mixture! Top with extra parsley to make it look nice if you wish, but definitely put the tomato lids back on, it makes it look finished and fancy
6. Serve it up right away, or place them into an airtight container or serving platter covered well with plastic wrap, and place into the fridge until ready to serve

These are the "original" shrimp stuffed tomatoes that we had our first day in Belgium!

   My European family soon realized how much I love food, but more than that, they realized how much I love to photograph food!! Seriously, I was so exhausted, but as soon as our hostess started bringing out food, I had to grab my camera! Her presentation of the tomate aux crevettes, was on a big platter that was covered in washed, cut & ready to eat romaine, sliced cucumber, shredded carrots, peas, and more chopped parsley.  Beautiful.

   I forgot to mention about these European kindred spirits and their 2 cakes they served us...they also served them before dinner! My kind of meal! :)  I will hopefully be sharing the cake recipes soon....or at least one of the recipes...we'll see. 

    So, Monday folk, have a great Monday! I hope (if you didn't have to work during the weekend!) that you are rested and ready for this week! Any special plans? I'll still be chugging away at projects for the upcoming Culture Days event. I'll be part of the Theatre Artists event and (if you live close) you could come downtown Belleville and find me (and other artists from the Theatre Guild) set up next to the library on Saturday, September 26th from 10-3. There will be paintings, pottery, knitting, felting, rug-hooking, jewelry, crafts and baking and you can take a tour of the theatre too! I'm pretty excited about it! 

   Farewell!