Stuffed Tomatoes:

I ran across some beautiful organic tomatoes at the market the other day and decided to make a stuffed tomato recipe I found on foodtv.com a couple of years back. This is a super easy recipe and a delightful, no meat meal. The recipe suggests these as a side, but I've always found them to be reasonably filling on their own, so served them with a side of simple spaghetti with marinara.

Anyway, you take a slice of nice crusty bread and dice it into 1/2 inch cubes. These go into a 300 degree oven for 8-10 minutes, or until they are toasted to your liking. Cut the tops off the tomatoes and use a melon baller to scoop out the insides. Strain out the seeds and put the tomato meat and juice in a bowl with the toasted bread. To this, I add some roughly chopped basil and marjoram (though rosemary, sage, or some other herb combo would be equally delicious), a clove of crushed garlic, some chopped up kalamata olives, salt and pepper, a little olive oil, parmesan cheese, and a small ball of mozzerella cheese that has been diced.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and fill the tomatoes with the mixture just described. Place the tops back on and use a toothpick to hold them in place. Bake the tomatoes for 30 minutes or so, or until they look nice and bubbly. Let them rest for a couple of minutes before serving with a side of pasta. I have made different versions of these using either chopped up shrimp, chicken, or italian sausage in place of or in addition to the olives. Last night I had an ice cold beer with dinner, but virtually any lighter wine you prefer, red or white, would be a good match as well.