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Baked Stuffed Fresh Tomatoes
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Here's a perfectly delicious way to enjoy your biggest, juiciest,
sun-kissed garden beauties as a main course ; just toss a simple
green salad to join them . Also scrumptious for lunch the next
day , heated up in the microwave.
9 – 10 large ripe tomatoes
1 pound mild (sweet) Italian sausage
3/4 cups uncooked Arborio or long grain rice
4 large cloves garlic, minced
3/4 cup chopped fresh basil
1/2 cup chopped Italian parsley
3/4 cup freshly grated Asiago or Parmesan cheese
4 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
Remove stems, then cut off tops and reserve them. With a sharp
knife, cut a thin slice off the bottoms of the tomatoes so they
sit flat , then carve out the inside of the tomatoes, leaving the
shell intact . Chop up the tomato pulp and bottom slices coarsely
and put in a bowl. Drain and reserve their juices separately in a
cup.
Remove casings and crumble sausage and place in a deep skillet.
Sauté over medium heat ,stirring to break up the meat until it
looses all pink color and fat is rendered. Drain and discard fat.
Combine chopped tomato pulp, uncooked rice, garlic, basil,
parsley, cheese, cooked crumbled sausage, and add
salt and freshly ground pepper.
Liberally oil a 9x12 oven- proof baking pan with 2 Tablespoons of
the oil and put tomato shells inside. Stuff each with tomato
mixture and then top with their reserved tops. Pour over any
reserved tomato juice and dribble 2 tablespoons olive oil over
the tops.
Bake at 400 for about 55 – 60 minutes or until rice is just
tender and tops of tomatoes are nicely browned. Cool in pan ,
serving when still warm.
Serves 8
Find more great garden-inspired recipes in
Renee's Cookbooks:
Recipes
from a Kitchen Garden
More
Recipes from a Kitchen Garden
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