When you meet me, you
will know 10 minutes into our conversation that I love food. Before the week is
out I will have shared at least one of my favorite recipes with you. By the
following month you will have tasted one of my creations and our friendship
will be cemented like cookie batter that has been mixed WAY too much. And occasionally,
you will share a recipe with me.
A mate at work came in
raving about his family’s stuffed tomato/mushroom recipe. Before I could even
say, “What’s in it?” he promised me a copy of the recipe. I was so excited to
put this recipe to the test! The next day I sprinted from work to the store, grabbed
all my ingredients, and went home to plan what I thought was going to be a
rather delightful meal…it was not.
Somewhere along the
way my taste buds did a 360. Everything tasted sweet to the point of making me nauseous.
I thought it must have been the recipe, but my dining companion assured me
everything tasted just fine. I ended up throwing everything into some Tupperware
containers and making a bowl of pasta instead, declaring the recipe a failure.
The next day, being
too tired to cook, I fumbled around the fridge looking for something to quench
my hunger so I could get back to work. Upon seeing the stuffed tomato that had
failed me yesterday I thought I’d give it another try…and it was so much
better.
So I heartily recommend
this recipe…with a few small additions. The recipe had said to cook the insides
of the tomato with the meat and the rest of the filling. That is a big mistake!
Throw it out, there’s absolutely no need for it. Also, who only uses 1 clove of
garlic?!
Italian Stuffed
Tomatoes (or Mushrooms)
4-6 large tomatoes or
1-2 pints baby bellas (or a combination of the two)
2 tablespoons butter
or margarine + a little olive oil
½ lb. milk Italian
sausage, removed from casing and crumbled
1 large onion, chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
¼ teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
½ cup seasoned bread
crumbs
¼ cup grated Parmesan
cheese
¼ cup chopped parsley
My recommendation is
to do half of the stuffing recipe in tomatoes and half in mushrooms.
1.
Preheat the oven to 350⁰F.
2.
Core the tomatoes and scoop out the pulp,
leaving ¼-inch shell. Turn the tomatoes over on a paper towel and let them
drain. Brush off the mushrooms with a paper towel and core them. Small dice the
stems and ¼th of the mushrooms (or more depending on your love of mushrooms); set aside.
3.
Heat the butter and olive oil in a medium
skillet. Add the garlic and sauté for about 5 minutes. Add the onion and heat
until the pieces are somewhat translucent. Add the diced mushrooms and sauté
for another 5-7 minutes. Next add the sausage, salt & pepper; cook until the
meat is browned.
4.
Take off the heat and stir in bread crumbs,
Parmesan cheese, and parsley. Spoon the mixture into the tomato shells and
mushrooms. Bake in the oven, 20-25 minutes for the mushrooms and 30-35 minutes
for the tomatoes, or until lightly browned.
5.
Sprinkle with additional cheese and chopped
parsley, if desired.
Enjoy!
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