Intensely Flavored Rice Salad with Mediterranean Flavors: Olives, Onions, Garlic, Capers and Fresh Herbs – Served Cold or Room Temperature.
A wonderful side dish or light lunch! Terrific addition to Summer Meals & Picnics.
Next week – Look for my FAVORITE SUMMER RECIPES to make right now!
Summer Tomatoes will soon be ready to be picked from the vines – and I’m ready for that home-grown flavor! (In the North-East that is…)
These are a hothouse variety with great color and a nice flavor.
These are stuffed with a rice salad and topped with pesto, not cooked!
Hallow out tomatoes with a small sharp knife – salt lightly and invert on a paper towel until ready to stuff.
The Method:
Make the Long Grain Rice.. Sauté all the Puttanesca Flavoring Ingredients and add to the rice while still warm – Stuff the tomatoes and refrigerate.
To serve: Top the rice with drizzle with pesto and fresh herb sprigs and serve cold or room temperature.
Tomatoes do taste best at room temperature – I take them out of the refrigerator half an hour before serving. Or you can refrigerate the rice filling and stuff into room temperature tomatoes…
Options:
This recipe is easily Vegan (can make the pesto with nutritional yeast in place of parmesan; omit anchovy) ~ But… you could add Feta or Goat Cheese crumbles to the rice… toasted Pine Nuts would be nice on top too!
The filling for the Stuffed Tomatoes:
- Sauté Onions and Garlic in Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Add Diced reserved Tomatoes, Sliced Olives, Capers, Anchovies, Chili Flakes and Sea Salt
- Add reserved Tomato Juice and Cooked Long Grain Rice – mix all together; add thinly sliced basil
- Garnish a drizzle of Pesto and Herb Sprigs
Enjoy this healthy Summer dish!
Karen
Love Everything Tomatoes & Puttanesca Sauce?
Try: Karen’s Pasta Puttanesca with Fresh Tomatoes
Karen's Puttanesca Stuffed Rice Tomatoes
Equipment
- 1 small saute pan
Ingredients
- 4 medium perfectly ripe tomatoes
- 1 cup cooked white rice* see recipe , long-grain
- 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons onions, diced; sweet like Vadalia
- 1 teaspoon fresh garlic, minced or finely grated
- 1/3 cup diced tomatoes, (from the tomato tops)
- 1/2 cup sliced olives*
- 1 tablespoon capers
- 1 whole anchovy filet , minced (from canned)
- 2 pinches hot chili flakes
- 1/8 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/8 teaspoon teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
- 2 tablespoons tomato juice, (reserved form the tomatoes)
- 1 tablespoon fresh basil, very finely chopped (chiffonade)
Garnishes:
- 1 tablespoon Basil Pesto
- 4 medium herb sprigs
Instructions
- Cook rice (see recipe below.) Use when warm to grab the flavors.
- Cut tops off tops of tomatoes - save tops. Scoop out tomato meat, juice and seeds - add to a bowl; reserve. Sprinkle insides of tomatoes with kosher salt, invert on a paper towel.Dice tomato meat from the "tops" discarding the core.
Saute Flavoring Ingredients:
- In a 8 " skillet, add EVOO, set heat to low. Add onions and garlic; cook 2 minutes until just softened. Add the diced tomatoes, and cook to flavor 2 minutes. Add the olives, capers, anchovies, hot chili flakes, salt & pepper and cook 2 more minutes.
- Strain 2 tablespoons of "tomato juice" from the reserved tomatoes - add to pan. Add the cooked rice (still a little warm), stir well to combine. Use the remaining pup and juice for another recipe.
- Add the sliced basil. Invert the tomatoes - stuff with the Rice Puttanesca Mixture.
To Serve:
- Serve at room temperature. Drizzle each with Pesto - garnish each tomato with an herb sprig; basil, oregano or marjoram. Serve over fresh basil leaves... pretty!
- Stuffed tomatoes can be stored in a sealed container for up to a day in the refrigerator. Rice can be made ahead of time and added to the tomatoes later too.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
