Tomato ladybirds
Tomatoes filled with a tuna mayonnaise and rice mixture, in a fun ladybird shape that kids will love, served with a puree of fresh garden peas. A good way to encourage them to eat vegetables.
1 hour 50 min.
Easy
18 tomatoes
13 IngredientsLast modified on: February 21th 2011
For 18 tomatoes, you will need:
- 1
18 tomatoes - 2
fine (or table) salt - 3
600 g peas - 4
9 tablespoons olive oil - 5
3 tablespoons lemon juice - 6
6 radishes - 7
9 tablespoons mayonnaise - 8
150 g tuna in oil - 9
150 g cooked rice - 10
3 bunches chives - 11
30 blacks olives - 12 salt
- 13
pepper - Total weight: 3,405 grams
Change these quantities to make:
Change measures:
Times for this recipe
Preparation: 1 hour 40 min.
Cooking: 10 min.
All in all: 1 hour 50 min.
If you start now, at , you will finish around : ?.Change start time
To finish around 7pm, you'll need to have started before: .Change end time
Step by step recipe
Stage 1 - 30 min.
Stage 2 - 5 min.
Remove flesh inside tomatoes with a teaspoon or a pommes parisiennes spoon (easier), and keep all that you remove.
Stage 3 - 3 min.
Stage 4 - 5 min.
Dispcard tomato seeds, keeping the flesh and cut off pieces (minus hard green stalk end), chop roughly, salt and leave to stand in a strainer.
Stage 5 - 10 min.
Boil a pan of salted water, put in 600 g peas and cook until soft (2 or 3 minutes usually).
Remove from pan, drain and put into cold water. Drain again when peas are cold, then dry.
Remove from pan, drain and put into cold water. Drain again when peas are cold, then dry.
Stage 6 - 5 min.
Blend peas, and if possible pass through a fine strainer to remove skins and get a very smooth puree.
Stage 7 - 5 min.
Mix 9 tablespoons olive oil and 3 tablespoons lemon juice.
Add 2 tbs of this mix to the pea puree, salt, pepper, and keep covered in the fridge.
Add 2 tbs of this mix to the pea puree, salt, pepper, and keep covered in the fridge.
Stage 8 - 10 min.
Prepare stuffing: cut 6 radishes into very small pieces, put in a bowl, add 9 tablespoons mayonnaise, 150 g tuna in oil, 150 g cooked rice, 3 bunches chives chopped, and the chopped tomato flesh. Mix well.
Stage 9 - 5 min.
Fill tomatoes with this mix.
Stage 10 - 5 min.
Place a tomato upside down on a serving plate, coat with remaining olive oil-lemon juice mix.
Stage 11 - 5 min.
With a very sharp knife, cut out tiny circles of olive, as thin as possible.
Stage 12 - 20 min.
Stick olive circles on tomato to get the ladybird effect. Tip: position them with the point of a knife.
Make the head with 1/2 olive and 2 blades of chives, then surround with pea puree.
Do this with all your tomatoes, and serve without delay.
Make the head with 1/2 olive and 2 blades of chives, then surround with pea puree.
Do this with all your tomatoes, and serve without delay.
Stage 13
For adults you could make a quicker version without olives.
Remarks
With this recipe you will become a god or goddess of cooking for your young children or grand-children. After this they will frequently ask you to make ladybird tomatoes again... To make it a real surprise, close the kitchen door if possible while you cook, and then see their eyes open wide when you put the plates on the table.
To cook rice, use the pilaf method or rice-cooker.
To cook rice, use the pilaf method or rice-cooker.
Keeping: Several days in the fridge, covered by a plastic film.
Source: Home made, from a photo seen in a women's magazine a long time ago.
Nutritional information
| Proteins (gr) | Carbohydrates (gr) | Fats (gr) | Energy value (in k-calories) | Energy value (in k-joules) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whole recipe | 110 RDI=40 % | 260 RDI=20 % | 670 RDI=100 % | 6,270 RDI=310 % | 26,250 RDI: 310 % |
| Per 100 g | 3 RDI=1 % | 7 RDI=1 % | 20 RDI=3 % | 180 RDI=9 % | 770 RDI: 9 % |
| Per tomatoes | 6 RDI=2 % | 10 RDI=1 % | 40 RDI=6 % | 350 RDI=20 % | 1,460 RDI: 20 % |
How much will it cost?
- For 18 tomatoes : 21.40 €
- Per tomatoes : 1.20 €
Change currency: 
Note: Be careful, these prices are only an estimate, you can consult the table of prices by ingredients used for this estimate.
This recipe uses (among others)
Peas
Like these other recipes: Baked Mont d'Or with diced mixed vegetables, Minestrone, Macédoine of vegetables, New peas with pesto, Icelandic-style fish and vegetable pie, ... See them all 20
Tuna in oil
Like these other recipes: Salade Niçoise, Tuna pasta, Crunchy courgette and mushroom salad, Gribouille dressing, Rice and fresh spinach salad, ... See them all 23
Cooked rice
You can get more informations, or check-out other recipes which use it, for example: Madras rice, Rice and zucchini salad with paprika, Rice and peas, Tomatoes Provençal, Grilled fillet of salmon with corn-salad cream, ... See them all 28
Black olives
Like these other recipes: Pissaladière with puff pastry, Two-olive ciabatta, Pasta with cherry tomatoes, olives and feta cheese, Greek salad, Souda salad, ... See them all 7
Other recipes you may also like
Salmon chard rolls
For this dish only the green part of the chard is used. The blanched leaves are rolled around grilled salmon portions. The rolls are served coated with a savoury lemon August 8th 2010178 K3.8 1 hour 25 min.
Fisherman's Ragout
This ragout combines vegetables (cut small and cooked until just tender in vegetable stock) with a mix of cockles and chunks of fish, all simmered together with cream and saffron. December 30th 2019111 K4.1 2 hours 20 min.
Salade Niçoise
Salade Niçoise is a typical Mediterranean dish that originated around the French city of Nice. As there is no real "official" recipe, everyone has their own personal version. This is mine. June 7th 2018108 K4.9 40 min.
Chestnut cake
This delightful cake is doubly chestnutty: it contains chestnut flour, and sweet chestnut purée. August 28th 2025343 K5 1 hour 15 min.
Fruit crumble
A fruit pudding: very easy to do and delicious: just a layer of fruit with a golden crunchy topping. February 21th 2011364 K4.0 1 hour 15 min.
The 1 comment already posted on this recipe