Stuffed Tomatoes
From the Mediterranean Diet Cookbook
Stuffed vegetables are a favourite across the Mediterranean. The pine nuts in this dish add a lovely crunch and boost the protein content. This dish can be served hot or cold and leftovers make a great lunch!
Ingredients
8 truss tomatoes
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
1 small onion, fi nely chopped
1 cup (200 g) rice
60 g pine nuts
60 g currants
dried mixed herbs, to taste
freshly milled sea salt, to taste
Method
Preheat oven to 180°C and grease a baking dish.
Carefully cut off tops of tomatoes and put to one side. Remove pulp with a spoon, reserving the pulp for the filling.
Heat olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat and sauté onion.
Add rice and cook for 5 minutes, stirring until well coated in oil and heated through.
Add pine nuts, currants, herbs and tomato pulp, then season with salt and pepper. Cook for a further 5–10 minutes, or until rice is almost cooked, then set aside to cool.
Carefully spoon filling into tomato shells and arrange in prepared dish, placing them close together to ensure they are tightly packed (to prevent tomatoes from splitting open and falling over). Replace the tops on the tomatoes.
Drizzle over a little olive oil and bake for 40 minutes.
Serve 2 tomatoes per person.