Pomodori ripieni - Stuffed Tomatoes

In London, summer comes and goes. Today it was summer and I made one of my favourite summer dishes: tomatoes stuffed with rice.

It is a family recipe we used to taste in Forte dei Marmi, at my granny home. The secret: plenty of fresh aromatic herbs, such as mint and basil. I grow them in my terrace.

Today I got very ripe vine tomatoes at the Portobello market. I scooped them and made my dish. No leftovers.

Pomodori ripieni - Stuffed Tomatoes 

8 ripe vine tomatoes
100 g long rice
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 tablespoon capers in salt, rinsed
10 black olives, pitted and chopped
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 handful fresh mint, chopped
1 handful basil, chopped
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Extra virgin olive oil

Serves 4 as a main course, 8 as a starter
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 45 minutes

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. 
2. With a sharp knife slice the top off of each tomato to make a cap and set aside. 
3. With a spoon, scoop out the flesh and discard the seeds. 
4. Place the flesh in a blender. Add, garlic, capers, olives and 2 tablespoons of olive oil and coarsely mix for few seconds. Taste and season with salt, if needed. Remember that capers are salted. Transfer to a bowl. Add the herbs
5. Boil rice in salted water for 7 minutes. Strain and mix with the tomato blend. 
6. Oil an ovenproof dish, large enough to hold the tomatoes. Arrange the tomatoes on the dish and salt their cavities. Then stuff with the rice mixture; drizzle with oil and place the caps back on. 
7. Bake for 35 minutes or until they begin to colour; half way through cooking, take the dish out of the oven and spoon some of the seeped liquid back onto to the tomatoes. 
8. Serve warm.