Sunday, May 24, 2009

Ricotta-stuffed Tomatoes

We love cheese. No really. On any given day, you'll find six or seven types of cheese in my fridge. Normal 'block' cheese, parmesan, cheese for crackers, cheese for cooking, cheese for raclette... you name it, we buy it. A little while ago, the lovely people at Perfect Italiano sent me more cheese to play with - parmesan, pizza cheese and LOTS of ricotta. I don't normally use ricotta, so this was the first recipe I tried. We ate them for dinner with green beans and kangaroo steaks. They were great!Ricotta-stuffed tomatoes
3 roma tomatoes, halved
6 tablespoons ricotta
3 tablespoons fresh coriander, finely chopped
3 tablespoons fresh basil, finely chopped
1 clove of garlic, finely minced
6 cheesy crackers (I used jatz)
Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees. Scoop all the seeds out of the tomatoes, salt the insides and let them rest upside down (to get as much moisture out as possible). Combine the ricotta, herbs and garlic. Crush the crackers to crumbs. Stuff the tomato halves with ricotta mixture, dip face down in the crackers and arrange on a baking tray. Drizzle with olive oil and back for 20 minutes, or until golden brown.
This recipe is easily expanded - just include a tablespoon of ricotta for each tomato half.