Karen’s Puttanesca Rice Stuffed Tomatoes
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
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.
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