Stuffed Tomatoes With Arborio Rice And Shrimp

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 When it comes to one dish summer meals this tomato recipe takes the prize. It is good just out of the oven and delicious at room temperature. Wonderful as an appetizer or vegetable, this dish also looks great on the buffet table.  It is the perfect lunch to serve before an afternoon of Bridge and a favorite amongst the Ladies Who Lunch.

I have taken the original recipe and added shrimp and a couple of little goodies to make it a one dish lunch or dinner.  If you want to serve it on the side then just remove the shrimp.  It is quite filling, so if you serve it as a main course for lunch all you will need is some Italian breadsticks or a crusty bread to gather the juices.  A very versatile dish, indeed!


  For the recipe click below:

 

Serves 8

Ingredients:

2 TB butter

2 TB. olive oil

1 TB. oil

2 lg garlic cloves mashed and diced

2 large scallions finely chopped

1/2 cup dry white wine or vermouth

11/4 teaspoons kosher salt
2 bay leaves

1 cup arborio rice

1/4 lbs shrimp

2 TB olive oil

2 mashed garlic

8 firm-ripe medium tomatoes
¾ cup fresh mozzarella, cut in small cubes
2 ounce piece ham, cut in small cubes
½ cup plus 2 tablespoons grated Grana Padano , or Parmigiano-Reggiano
10 large basil leaves, chopped
½ teaspoon dry oregano

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In a small sauce pan add the butter, the oil and sautee the garlic and the scallions until golden. Add the wine and boil down. Add  1 1/2 cups water with 1/2 teaspoon salt and the bay leaves and bring to a boil. Stir in the rice. Bring to a simmer and cook, uncovered, until rice is al dente and liquid is almost all gone, about 10 minutes. Scrape into a bowl to cool.

Clean the pan.  Add a couple of tablespoons of olive oil, 2 garlic cloves, mashed and diced and 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes.  Turn the heat to medium high, add the shrimp and cook until browned, stirring and flipping over a couple of times.  Remove and let shrimp cool a bit.   Chop the shrimp and add to the rice. (You can also use grilled shrimp if you have some leftover from the night before.  In that case you can skip this step and just chop them)

2. Slice the tops off the tomatoes, reserving the tops. Scoop out the inner flesh of the tomatoes with a spoon, leaving a thick shell. As you work, put the flesh in a strainer set over a bowl to collect the juices. Once all of the tomatoes are scooped out, season the insides of the tomatoes with 1/2 teaspoon of the salt.

3. Chop the tomato flesh and put in the bowl with the rice and shrimp. To the bowl, add the mozzarella, the, ham, 1/2 cup of the grated cheese, the basil, the oregano and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt. Toss to combine.

4. Pour reserved tomato juices in the bottom of a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Evenly divide stuffing in tomatoes. Arrange cut-off tomato tops in the baking dish and place a stuffed tomato on each top. Depending on the size of your tomatoes, you may have a little leftover stuffing. If so, roll it into “meatballs” and place in the spaces in the baking dish. Drizzle tomatoes with remaining tablespoon of olive oil and sprinkle tops with remaining grated cheese. Bake until tomatoes are soft and juicy and stuffing is browned on top, about 20 to 25 minutes.

Here's the final product served with the extra stuffing on the side

Recipe and photos Lindaraxa