New Meal Monday: Cheesy Stuffed Tomatoes

 Every time we get a new cookbook I love to flip through and mark all the recipes we want to make. So years ago, when we got The Cabot Creamery Cookbook, we had our work cut out for us as we marked nearly every recipe (mostly due to our love of cheese!). We have chipped away over the years, but my first pick (Cheddar-Stuffed Tomatoes) kept getting skipped. My husband likes tomatoes, but does not share my love for them so every time I would suggest it he would find an excuse – “I am in the mood for something different” or “Let’s wait until we have fresh tomatoes from our garden”. Well tonight we were looking for a side and are up to our ears with fresh tomatoes from our garden so he had no excuse and we gave it a try! Now, I love tomatoes in any form, on a sandwich, in a salad, on a burger, (or in my case a veggie burger) in as a sauce, or when they are really fresh I love them just as is. However, typically tomatoes are something that I add on or add into what I am eating. This recipe features the tomato as the main event. It is literally the vessel that holds all the cheesy goodness. They are a great side dish to any meal or could be a fun appetizer or snack. We followed the recipe in the cookbook, but there is a lot of room to get creative with different cheeses or add-ins (I added sliced avocado on mine and it was delicious)! And if you like cheese as much as we do, I would suggest tossing a little extra shredded cheese on top before baking. Enjoy!

What you'll need:

• 4 large tomatoes
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 1/2 C finely chopped onion
• 2 tsp minced garlic
• 2 C breadcrumbs
• 1 C shredded cheddar 
• 1/4 C chopped parsley
• 1/4 tsp black pepper

How you'll do it:

1. Preheat Oven to 400* & lightly butter a shallow baking dish.
2. Halve tomatoes (across "middle" of tomato), and scoop out/discard seeds with a small spoon.
3. Lightly salt interiors--using 3/4 tsp of salt divided evenly among the halves--and set upside down on paper towel to drain.
4. Melt butter in a skillet over medium heat, add garlic and onion and sauté for about 5 min.
5. Increase heat to medium-high, and breadcrumbs and continue sautéing about 5 min longer, or until bread crumbs are golden.
6. Transfer mixture into a bowl and stir in chees, parsley, reaming salt, and pepper.
7. Place tomato halves (open side up) onto baking dish and fill with mixture, divided evenly among them.
8. Bake about 15 min. Tomatoes should be tender and filling lightly browned.