Stuffed Baked Tomatoes

These taste exactly like they smell – a glorious aroma of Mediterranean rustic-ness. In the oven, the smell of the melty juicy tomato mixed with all those Mediterranean flavors really blossom and get all toasty. You have garlic and onion and olives and capers and lavender and thyme and rosemary and basil. You seriously will want to huff this stuff haha. So insanely good! Don’t worry about all those herbs, literally just use herbes de provence – it’s a spice blend that’s done all the flavor work for you…totally worth the purchase.

When I snapped the pictures and wrote up the measurements for this recipe, I only made two (my dad had a meeting that night)…however, these tomatoes can totally be duplicated for however many stuffed tomatoes you want to make (if it was up to my mom, we’d have an army of these bad boys ready to deploy at the drop of a hat). Right before you take your first bite, sprinkle on a little freshly grated cheese.

Oh yes.

You’re welcome.

2 medium tomatoes

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

½ medium onion (finely chopped)

5 kalamata olives (pitted and chopped)

1 garlic clove (minced)

1 & ¼ teaspoon herbes de provence

½ tablespoon capers (chopped)

1 – 2 teaspoons roasted red peppers (chopped)

1/8 cup panko bread crumbs

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.

Slice the tops off of the tomatoes and scoop out the insides to get rid of the seeds, membrane, etc. You want a little tomato “cup”.

In a skillet over medium-low heat, add the oil, onion, olives, and garlic. Cook for a 5 minutes. Remove from heat and mix in the remaining ingredients.

Stuff the tomatoes with the filling and place on a parchment paper lined baking sheet (easier for cleanup). Drizzle with a dash more oil and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until the tomato is tender (I like to keep it in until the tomato skin breaks a little bit).

Serve warm or room temperature. Enjoy!