Pomodori al Riso

Inspiration:
A dish Tim and I made in our Rome cooking class
and
Tomatoes, garlic, basil, and parsley from our CSA


Ingredients:

• 4 large squat-shaped large tomatoes
• basil
• parsley
• 1 to 2 cloves garlic
• olive oil
• salt and pepper
• 6 heaped tablespoons of Arborio rice
• grated Parmesan (optional)
  

Instructions:

1. Remove stems from tomatoes, turn upside down and evenly cut off bottoms, reserving them. With a kitchen spoon or grapefruit spoon, carefully scoop out the tomatoes into a bowl, leaving the "shell" intact. Reserve all contents.
2. Place scooped tomato in a blender or liquidizer, add plenty of parsley and basil, garlic, salt, pepper, and some olive oil. Blend until smooth. Place in a saucepan, add rice, and bring to a boil, cooking for about 4 minutes.
3. Place tomatoes cut-side up in an oiled baking dish, fill up to 2/3 with rice mixture, adding a little water if it's too thick. Close with cut off tops. Spread any leftover rice around tomatoes.
4. Bake in a 350 degree oven until cooked, about 30 minutes. You can test by removing one of the tops from a tomato and tasting the rice. It should be fairly al dente.
   

Recipe Notes:
Traditionally in Rome these tomatoes are baked surrounded by potatoes cut like French fries, adding some water and olive oil. I [the cooking class instructor] prefer the extra rice around them, which is very tasty!

My Notes:
Pomodori al Riso = "Rice Stuffed Tomatoes"
I forgot to reserve the tops of the tomatoes, whoops! Next time. Actually, next time I think I'll make this recipe from Food & Wine instead. The stuffed tomatoes made a nice presentation, but the crispy risotto cooked in the pan tasted even better!

Tim's Rating: 8.5/10 ("I definitely like the crispy risotto from the pan the best.")
Liz's Rating: 8.5/10