Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Tuesday Recipe - Clam Stuffed Tomatoes

So we know that tomatoes are good for us. And now they're in season. For me, September is tomato-tastic! Tomato sauce, stuffed tomatoes, however I can make them to freeze and eat in the middle of winter. Because waxy mid-winter tomatoes are better than no tomatoes, but they're still not all that great. One of the problems inherent in freezing tomatoes is that the water separates from the tomato flesh, which makes sauce, chili, and such a little less appetizing de-frosted. But while these stuffed tomatoes do the same thing, the taste doesn't suffer at all, and they still stay sweet and yummy even after several months of freezing.

I made this recipe for my father once, and he never wants me to make them again. Now you're asking yourself "what?! You're telling me he didn't like them, and now you're saying WE should make them?! Are you mad?!" But I think it's more an example of individual taste. The original recipe had olives and sardines. I don't like either one, so I replaced it with clams. And it's one of my favorite recipes ever.

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Clam Stuffed Tomatoes

8 medium tomatoes
1 medium onion, chopped
~8-10oz minced clams (either bought in small tuna-sized cans of minced clams, or a larger can of whole clams and then chopped up. I prefer the latter)
1/4C bread crumbs
1/4C grated parmesan
1/4C parsley, chopped
t-T lemon zest (the recipe called for a teaspoon. I put a tablespoon by accident and it was quite yummy)
T lemon juice
t minced garlic
olive oil
salt/pepper

Preheat oven to 375.

Cut the tops off the tomatoes and discard (think jack o' lantern top). Scoop tomato-insides into a bowl and set tomatoes upside down on a paper towel to drain. Cut up any large tomato pieces (from the insides). Drain juice.

Put onion, garlic, and a little oil in a pan and cook until onion is translucent, but not brown. Add tomato pulp and parsley to onions and cook for about five minutes. Add clams until heated.

Remove from heat. Add bread crumbs, parmesan, lemon zest and lemon juice. Salt and pepper to taste. Place tomato shells on a baking dish and stuff with filling. Drizzle with olive oil over the tops and cook for 30 minutes. Tops with be slightly browned.

If you want to freeze, I recommend first sticking the pan into the freezer (unless it's glass, then put them on a different tray) to firm up the tomatoes. Once they're more or less hard, wrap them individually in Saran Wrap and store in a large tupperware.

I used to just stick them all in the tupperware without pre-wrapping them, but then you have to eat the entire tupperware worth of them, since they freeze all stuck together. So while individualizing them isn't really environmentally friendly (with all the plastic), it's a lot more practical...

7 comments:

Leah J. Utas said...

mmmmmmmmm.....tomatoes

carla said...

Can not believe I read this and thought:

She whack. Its Monday.

Oops. I've been walking around with the wrong day in my head.

Love,

Miz who has yet to eat a tomato. Stuffed or otherwise. Unless it's accompanied by lots of water to git it down. Bad. I know.

The Lethological Gourmet said...

Miz, I hear you about the day of the week - my boss came down a little while ago to ask whether we were having our meeting today...we have a 10am meeting every Tuesday, but even though I'd already posted this, my head still said it was Monday...

Charlotte said...

I love tomatoes! I love clams! Heaven!!

JavaChick said...

Olives I like. Clams and sardines, not so much.

I do love stuffed tomatoes though. Ok, I pretty much love anything to do with tomatoes. :)

The Lethological Gourmet said...

The great thing about this recipe is that it's so malleable...so you could use clams, or cheese (like mozzarella), or olives, or sardines, or a combination of the above! Woohoo!

Missicat said...

yummmmm.....I love clams, you can make it for meeeee! :-) clams + tomatoes + cheese? Heaven!

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