My quest continues to create delicious treats for our vegetarian friends who I’ve been charged with feeding this summer. On Monday on my walk around the cooler, ok so I really just stand in one place and move around, I decided on stuffed tomatoes. I asked my sous chef to cook some rice for it and then went searching again for products to use. I found a zucchini and a yellow squash. I diced them up as small as I could, I diced an onion and 2 cloves of garlic as well. I then sweated them on the stove. For those that don’t know, sweating is process where you cook things on low heat until they are translucent in color. You can also do it on high heat but you’d have to watch it closely and stir it often. The number one rule with sweating is no color!
Somewhere between sweating the vegetables and the rice being done I realized that I should make this gluten free so I decided that I would skip the rice. We put that aside deciding we would use it for dinner. After I sauteed the vegetables I put them in a bowl and added a tablespoon or so of balsamic vinegar and half a cup of grated parmesan cheese.
Then I mixed it around and added some more salt and pepper. Earlier I had cut small roma tomatoes in half, cutting a small piece off the bottom or top depending on how you look at it to make them stand.
Next I took the squash mixture and stuffed it in the tomatoes. After that I placed a small piece of mozzarella cheese on the top of the tomato and then put it in the oven at 350 for 10 minutes, just enough to brown the tops. Here’s how they came out....
They had just about the perfect bite. The balsamic added just the little pop that you needed. These might be the perfect treat for appetizer at a cocktail party. I think they were too small for lunch but I imagine you could make them in peppers as well.
Ron’s Squash Stuffed Roma Tomatoes
15 Roma Tomatoes, cut in half
1 Yellow Squash, small diced
1 Zucchini Squash, small diced
1 Onion, small diced
1 glove of garlic, small diced
2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup of parmesan cheese, shredded
Mozzarella cheese for garnish
salt and pepper to taste
Oil
Dice your onion, both squash and garlic. Sweat in a pan with oil until translucent. Add salt and pepper to taste. While sweating veggies cut roma tomatoes in half and scoop out the insides with a small spoon. Once vegetables are translucent put in a bowl and mix with balsamic vinegar and cheese, add more salt and pepper to taste. Stuff squash mixture in roma tomatoes and top with mozzarella cheese. Bake in oven at 350 degrees for 10 minutes or until mozzarella is melted. Do not overbake as the the tomato will not hold it’s shape.
*I have just discovered from a friend that rice is gluten free unless it’s been treated and then in some cases it’s not. You can learn more here: Is Rice Really Gluten Free?

