Italian stuffed tomatoes are a hearty vegetable to include on your table. In fact, they’re so full of flavour and wholesomeness that you might just have a few as a satisfying main. You can alter them to include some meat for the carnivores, or leave them full of veggie goodness.
Italian stuffed tomatoes
Ingredients
- 5ml (1 tsp) olive oil
- ½ red onion, finely chopped
- 120g chorizo, diced
- 6 mushrooms, diced
- 5ml (1 tsp) crushed garlic
- 250ml (1 cup) cooked orzo (pasta rice)
- 15ml (1 tbsp) sweet chilli sauce
- 6 fresh basil leaves
- 30ml (2 tbsp) Parmesan, grated
- salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 4 large tomatoes
- 60ml (¼ cup) breadcrumbs
- fresh basil, to serve
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line a baking tray with baking paper.
Heat the oil in a saucepan, add the onions and fry over medium heat until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the chorizo and mushrooms, and fry for another 2 minutes. Stir in the garlic and fry for 1 minute.
Combine this mixture with the cooked orzo and sweet chilli sauce. Tear up the basil leaves and stir together with the Parmesan into the orzo mixture. Season.
Cut the tops off the tomatoes and use a melon baller to gently scoop out the flesh. Chop up the flesh of 2 of the tomatoes and add this to the orzo mixture. Discard the remaining tomato flesh.
Scoop the orzo filling into the hollow tomatoes and place them on the baking tray. Scatter breadcrumbs on top of the filling and bake until golden and warmed through, about 20 – 25 minutes.
Scatter basil on top before serving.
Notes
Cook's tip: Make this dish vegetarian-friendly by replacing the chorizo with sweetcorn.
