Banadoura Mahshi

Mahshi means stuffed vegetables so you can have many types of mahshi. This is a very popular style of serving food all over the world. Every country has a special way of serving stuffed vegetables and I have loved them all might I say. This recipe of stuffed tomatoes is pretty easy for any level of cook. You can use ground beef if you do not have ground lamb. Use the leftover meat mixture to mix with white rice.

1 pound ground lamb
10 medium tomatoes
1/2 tablespoon Arabic Baharat spice
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 can (15 ounces) tomato sauce
1 cup water
1/4 cup pine nuts
1 small onion, diced
salt and pepper to taste

1. In a 9-inch skillet on medium heat add lamb and onions. Cook until no longer pink, drain fat. Add meat back into pan with baharat, tomato paste, salt and pepper and pine nuts. Mix well and cook until pine nuts are golden. Wash and carefully core out inside of tomatoes.

2. Pre-heat oven to 400F. With a small spoon carefully fill the tomatoes with the meat mixture. In a 8x8inch baking pan pour tomato sauce then carefully place tomatoes into the pan and cover with foil. Cook for 45 minutes.

Yields: 4 servings