roman tomatoes with risotto and basil

tomato flesh and liquid is mixed with risotto rice, basil, oil, salt & pepper before being put back in the tomato

In the 70's stuffed peppers were pretty trendy. Yuck. They kinda ruined any interest I might have in any other vegetable being stuffed - especially with rice. That is, until I learned how to make this classic Roman dish. Seriously, you are so going to love these.

This is how it's done. Cut the tops off of some good sized seasonal tomatoes (round and firm work best) and scoop out the innards (see above) and place in a bowl mixed with 2 heaping tbsp of uncooked risotto rice per tomato, lots of chopped fresh basil, 1tsp of olive oil per tomato, salt & pepper. Mix the ingredients together in the bowl and reload the tomatoes. Pop the tops you cut off back on like little hats to enclose. Bake in a glass ovenproof dish for 1 hour at 350 degrees). You can wedge these in the dish with potato wedges, which will roast alongside your tomatoes and keep them tightly packed in place.

In Rome, this is a summer dish often cooked late at night or in early morning when it's still cool outside. The dish is served at room temperature later in the day when it's simply too hot outside to cook. I do up a load and have them over the course of a few days. We've got a lot of hot days like today on the way... These are so good you'll find yourself wanting to make them all summer!!