Stuffed tomatoes with bacon, cheese and walnuts

Stuffed tomatoes are an Italian classic that can be served either as a side dish or as a main course. We love it as a one-stop meal filled with rice, scamorza cheese, bacon and walnuts, even though you can prepare the stuffing with near limitless ingredients (we will post more recipes soon.) 

INGREDIENTS

The tomatoes

You can use different types of tomatoes as long as they are ripe and their walls aren’t too thick. We recommend round and plum varieties and advise against beef tomatoes. 

The cheese

You can use any cheese for this dish. We prepared our stuffed tomatoes with scamorza and pecorino because we enjoy the contrast of their smoky notes with the tomato’s sweetness, but you can replace scamorza with emmental or cheddar and pecorino with parmesan. You will want to grate the hard cheese to give your stuffing a velvety feel.

PREPARATION

Cook the rice

• Cut off the top of the tomato and carve out the stalk. Set the tomato ring aside.
• Scoop out the pulp of the tomatoes with a spoon.
• Squash the tomato pulp with a fork and place it in a strainer.
• Pour the liquid from the strained pulp into a pan and add the rice.
• Add a teaspoon of sugar and salt to taste.
• Cook for about 15 minutes or until the water has absorbed. You may need to add water if your tomatoes are not very juicy.

Prepare the stuffing

While the rice is cooking you can prepare the rest of the stuffing. 

• Cut the scamorza (or any other cheese) into small cubes.
• Wash the parsley, remove the stalk and cut the leaves finely. Set aside half of the leaves.
• Crush the walnuts with your fingers into small pieces.
• Place the bacon cubes in a pan and cook on medium heat until the fat has melted away and the bacon is crispy.
• Grate the pecorino (or parmesan.)
• Tip all the ingredients, including the olive oil and black pepper, into a bowl.
• Add the rice when ready and mix well with a wooden spoon.

Cook the tomatoes

• Pre-heat the oven to 180º (non ventilated setting.)
• Stuff the tomatoes; don’t overfill them as they will reduce in size in the oven.
• Cover the tomatoes with the ring that you cut out.
• Cook for 40 minutes; the thicker the tomatoes, the longer the cooking time. They are ready when you can drive a fork through them without resistance.

SERVE & PAIR

Plate your dish:

• Serve your stuffed tomatoes on their own as a starter or with a green salad on the side as a main course. 
• Garnish the plate with the parsley that you set aside.
• You can keep the tomatoes in the fridge for two days in a Tupperware container and heat them up in the microwave. 

Pair with a light wine:

• You don’t want to drawn the dish’s delicate flavour with a wine that is too full-bodied or tannic; if choosing a red, try something light like Pinot Noir or a bubbly Lambrusco.
• We prefer white wines with tomatoes though, so we paired this dish with a fruity Pinot Grigio from the Veneto region.

ENJOY!