Kathy Gunst's Stuffed Tomatoes Provencal

Stuffing ripe summer tomatoes with sautéed onion, garlic, 
herbs, and breadcrumbs makes an elegant dish. Use the 
very ripest, juiciest tomatoes you can find and be sure to 
serve with crusty bread to sop up all the juices. Serve hot, 
cold, or at room temperature as a first course, salad dish, or 
side dish to any roasted or grilled fish, meat or poultry.


Ingredients

*	4 tablespoons olive oil
*	1 finely chopped medium onion
*	2 finely chopped cloves garlic
*	Salt and freshly ground black pepper
*	3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
*	2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
*	1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
*	6 medium tomatoes, about 4 pounds
*	1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons of tapenade or olive puree, 
*	1/2 - 1/4 cup homemade or bottled breadcrumbs


Directions

1.	Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2.	In a medium skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil over medium-low heat. Add the 
onion and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, for 10 minutes. Add the herbs.

3.	Meanwhile, cut the tomatoes in half width-wise. Working over the skillet with the 
onions and garlic, use a melon scooper or a small spoon to carefully scoop the 
flesh out of each tomato half. Be careful not to cut into the shell. The idea is to 
remove the inside flesh and keep the tomato skin or shell intact. Reduce the heat 
to low and let the tomato, onion and garlic mixture cook another 10 minutes.

4.	Place the tomato shells into a large gratin dish, broiler pan, or ovenproof skillet. 
Use a spoon and spread the 1/3 cup tapenade into the bottom of each of the 
tomato shells.

5.	Remove the skillet from the heat and stir the breadcrumbs into the mixture; use enough breadcrumbs for the mixture to come together, somewhere between 1/4 and 1/2 of a cup.

6.  Very carefully divide the stuffing into the tomato shells, pressing down lightly so you
get as much stuffing as possible into each shell. Divide the remaining 2 tablespoons of 
tapenade and place a small dollop on top of each stuffed tomato. Drizzle the 
tomatoes with the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil. The dish can be made several 
hours ahead of time up to this point. Cover and refrigerate until ready to bake.

6.	Place the tomatoes on the middle rack and bake 1 hour, or until the tomato looks 
soft. Serve hot, room temperature, or chilled. Serves 6.



Kathy made this dish on WBUR's Here and Now 
on Wednesday August 20th, 2003.

Copyright 2003 by Kathy Gunst (c)

If you are looking for more recipes like this one,
try Kathy Gunst's book Relax, Company's 
Coming!  Available on Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0743202589/wburorg-20/103-4055791-8989413