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Tomatoes Stuffed with Bulgur and Pine Nuts

Tomato shells filled with a mixture of bulgur, lentils, spinach, pine nuts, currants, and fresh herbs.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 14 ingredients
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Why it works: Lentils and spinach match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 132 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓

Tomatoes Stuffed with Bulgur and Pine Nuts

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the tomatoes

  1. Cut off and discard the top third of the tomatoes and scoop out the insides, leaving the shells intact for stuffing, transferring the insides to a sieve set over a bowl to drain excess liquid.

  2. Coarsely chop the tomato from the sieve and reserve it for making braised eggplant.

  3. Sprinkle the insides of the tomato shells with 1/2 teaspoon salt and drain upside down on a rack set in a pan while preparing the filling.

Cook the lentils and pine nuts

  1. Simmer the lentils in 1/2 cup water in a small saucepan until just tender, 18 to 20 minutes.

  2. Drain the lentils in a sieve, then rinse under cold water and drain well.

  3. Heat the oil in a 5-quart heavy pot over moderate heat until hot, then cook the pine nuts, stirring, until golden, about 2 minutes.

  4. Transfer the pine nuts with a slotted spoon to paper towels to drain.

Make the filling

  1. Cook the onion in the oil remaining in the pot over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until softened but not browned, 6 to 8 minutes.

  2. Add the bulgur, chard, remaining 3/4 teaspoon salt, and pepper and cook, stirring, until the greens are wilted, about 2 minutes.

  3. Add the remaining cup of water, then remove from heat and let stand, covered, until the bulgur is tender, about 30 minutes.

  4. Stir in the pine nuts, currants, parsley, dill, lemon juice, lentils, and salt and pepper to taste.

Fill and serve

  1. Spoon the filling into the tomato shells.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

583Calories
18 gProtein
34 gFat
62 gCarbs

Counts 12 of 15 ingredients. The other 3 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 12 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Pine Nut1 oz (28g)191
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Lentil1/2 cup cooked (99g)115
Grape1/2 cup (76g)62
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Lemonjuice of 1 lemon (48ml)12
Spinach1 cup raw (30g)7
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Dill5 sprigs fresh (1g) / 1 tsp dried4
Parsley1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)1
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Green Lentilnot in our table0
Waternot in our table0
Bulgurnot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Lentils + spinachtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together132 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

  2. Tomato + olivetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,539 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

  3. Pine + spinachtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together181 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

  4. Lentils + bulgurtop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together16 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Lentils + pinetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together13 recipes

    Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Tomatoes
Hollowed shells hold the filling and their juices are drained first to limit excess liquid.
Bulgur
Cracked wheat that absorbs the water and swells, giving the filling its chewy, tender body.
Lentils
Cooked until just tender, they add substance and a firm bite that holds the filling together.
Pine nuts
Toasting them to golden adds rich, nutty flavor and a crunchy contrast to the soft filling.
Onion
Softened slowly without browning, it builds a sweet, mild base for the filling.
Extra-virgin olive oil
Carries flavor and fat, helping cook the onion and toast the pine nuts evenly.

The step that matters

Letting the bulgur stand covered off the heat. Bulgur softens by absorbing the remaining water as it steams. Removing the lid or heating it further can leave grains firm or the liquid unevenly absorbed, so the full standing time matters.

Swap the nuts

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (tomato, lentils, olive, pine, onion, bulgur, spinach):

  1. Chickpeafits better
  2. Cashew nutfits better
  3. Beansfits better
  4. Nutsthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against tomato, lentils, olive, pine, onion, bulgur, spinach. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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