Stuffed Tomatoes
About the Recipe:
Here is a great recipe if you are looking to try something new, like we were. It’s a great twist on stuffed peppers and is very Italian. It might seem like there are a lot of steps but it is really simple and you will be glad you tried it.
Ingredients:
4 medium size tomatoes
10 oz of ground beef/pork mixture
1 small onion
2 cloves of garlic or 2 tbsp minced garlic
2 oz Gruyere cheese
2 tbsp flour
2 tbsp butter
8 basil leaves
1/3 cup white wine
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
salt and black pepper to taste
Cooking Instructions:
Slice off tops of the tomatoes. Slice off bottoms of tomatoes if your tomatoes don’t stand up. Scoop out insides, pat dry with paper towel then, sprinkle the inside with salt. Place on a paper towel to drain excess moisture. Peel and finely chop the garlic and onion. Cut the basil into thin strips. Grate the Gruyere cheese. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Melt butter in frying pan, add the chopped onion and garlic, saute until brown. Add the ground meat and wine to the pan. Once browned add the flour and mix, then add the basil and cheese. Cook until cheese is melted. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Spoon mixture into tomatoes then top with the panko bread crumbs. Place filled tomatoes in baking dish. Bake uncovered for 9 minutes.
Notes:
Instead of butter we used I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter Mediterranean Blend.
A great way to chop basil is to stack the leaves up with the largest piece on the bottom, roll them and then give them a chop.
Panko bread crumbs were our suggestion, as we love them, but any bread product you like would be great too, such as plain or Italian bread crumbs or even a good crumbled crouton.
A good substitution for the Gruyere cheese would be Parmesan, but the Gruyere has excellent melting qualities. If this cheese was available here for us to buy I am sure it is available pretty much everywhere. Left overs of this cheese should be stored in the freezer and can be used in many dishes such as macaroni and cheese or even on top of hamburgers.