Stuffed Tomatoes

An overhead view of four large tomatoes that have been split in half and roasted with bread crumbs in the cavity.

Course: Side

Cuisine: American, Vegetarian

Keyword: roasted tomatoes recipe, stuffed tomatoes recipe, vegetarian side dish

Prep Time: 15

Cook Time: 15

Total Time: 30

Servings: people

Calories: 221kcal

Author: Kris Longwell

Stuffed Tomatoes are the stuff summer dreams are made of. You can prepare these up to a day in advance and then bake them as directed in the recipe.

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Ingredients

Cooking spray
4 large tomatoes
1½ cups bread crumbs fresh, pulsed in food processor
½ cup scallions finely chopped, white and green parts
¼ cup basil fresh, chopped
2 tbsp parsley fresh, chopped
2 cloves cloves minced
1 tbsp thyme fresh, chopped
1 tsp Kosher salt plus extra for seasoning tomatoes
Freshly ground black pepper
½ cup Gruyere cheese grated
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

Instructions

Pre-heat oven to 400°F. Spray a baking dish (9"x9" or 9"x13") with cooking spray.
Cut the cores from the tomatoes and then slice them in half, horizontally. Remove the seeds and some of the cavity of the tomato halves with a small knife.
In a bowl, combine the bread crumbs, scallions, basil, parsley, thyme, garlic, and 1 teaspoon of Kosher salt.
Generously sprinkle the tomato halves with salt and pepper.
Mound the tomato cavities with the bread crumb mixture. Use a spatula to transfer the stuffed tomatoes to the prepared baking dish.
Bake the tomatoes for 15 minutes. Remove the tomatoes from the oven and sprinkle with the cheese, drizzle with olive oil and bake for another 2 minutes, or until cheese has just melted.
Serve warm or at room temperature.

Video

Notes

We like using large 'slicer' tomatoes for this dish, but you could also go with Roma tomatoes, or whatever are the freshest and tastiest available to you. Depending on the size of the tomatoes, you may need to increase the quantity.

For the bread crumbs, we take an Italian loaf or French loaf of bread and use a serrated knife to remove the crust. We tear the bread into pieces and add to our food processor and pulse until we've got coarse bread crumbs. No need to let the bread dry out. The roasting process will make them perfectly toasted and just right.

For the herbs, you can use dried thyme (1 tsp), but we definitely recommend using fresh basil. You'll lose the wonderful garden-fresh taste with dried basil. But, in a pinch, you could use 2 tbsp of dried in place of the fresh (but go with fresh!).

Shredded Fontina, Swiss, mozzarella, or Monterrey Jack are all suitable substitutes for the Gruyere.

The dish can be prepared just up to baking several hours, or even a day in advance.

The stuffed tomatoes are wonderful served warm right out of the oven, or at room temperature.

Nutrition