Baked Stuffed Tomatoes

Ingredients

• 1¼ cups leftover bread, roughly cut into ¼-inch cubes
• 1 large egg, preferably organic
• ½ cup cooked spinach
• ¼ cup grated Swiss cheese
• ¼ cup chopped yellow onion
• 2 white mushrooms, coarsely chopped (about ⅓ cup)
• 1 large garlic clove, minced
• ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
• ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 large tomatoes (about 8 ounces each)
• Extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling
• 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F.
2. In a large bowl, mix the bread and egg together and coat the bread. Add the spinach, Swiss cheese, onion, mushrooms, and garlic. Season with ¼ teaspoon of the salt and pepper. Mix well to create a stuffing.
3. Cut the tomatoes in half. Arrange the tomatoes, cut-side up, in a gratin dish. You can also cut a small slice from the bottom ends so that they sit flat. Season with the remaining ¼ teaspoon salt and pepper and drizzle with oil. Using your hands or a spoon, mound the stuffing on top of each tomato half and press to keep it in place. Drizzle with more oil and sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese.
4. Bake until the tomatoes are cooked through, and the tops are golden, 30 to 40 minutes. Let sit for 5 minutes. Drizzle with a little more oil, if you like, and serve.

Notes

In summer when ripe tomatoes abound, I like to cut the large ones in half and top them with a flavorful mixture of ingredients and leftovers from my refrigerator. This version is vegetarian as that is what I had on hand, but you can add sausage, ham or chicken to your mixture.