Italian Stuffed Tomatoes

The week after Kevin Hart and the family is still floating. Andre's clip went semi-viral — not the comedy, but the moment with Miss Ernestine. Someone in the audience filmed it and posted it and the video has three hundred thousand views and climbing. Miss Ernestine, one hundred years old, shouting "THAT'S MY GRANDBABY" at Kevin Hart, has become a minor internet sensation. The assisted living facility in Decatur reports that Miss Ernestine has been showing the video to every aide and visitor. She says, "I'm famous." She has always been famous. The internet just found out.

Book sales bumped after the video — people made the connection between Andre Jackson the comedian and "From Brenda's Kitchen" by Tamika Washington, née Jackson. Katherine called, delighted: "Your grandmother is better marketing than any publicist." She's right. Miss Ernestine has done more for the cookbook in thirty seconds than twelve cities of book tour. The woman is, at one hundred, still the most powerful force in this family.

Summer cooking has shifted to lighter meals — the heat demands it. Gazpacho on Monday (Curtis: "cold soup is a contradiction"). Grilled fish tacos on Wednesday (Curtis: "these are good" — EIGHTH unqualified compliment, and the man doesn't even know he's being tracked). Watermelon salad with feta and mint on Saturday (Curtis: silence, which I interpret as confused approval).

Isaiah has been cooking more ambitiously this summer — he made a Thai green curry from scratch on Thursday. Fish sauce, coconut milk, green curry paste, vegetables. The boy who started with collard greens now makes Thai curry. The expansion is the growth. The growth is the line extending. The line doesn't stop at collard greens. The line goes to Charlotte and Charlotte goes to Bangkok and the going is the cooking and the cooking is the life.

Wednesday’s fish tacos earned compliment number eight, and I’ll admit I let myself feel that one. But Saturday’s watermelon salad — received in total Curtis silence — reminded me that summer cooking is its own kind of experiment: light, bright, improvised around whatever the heat will allow. These Italian Stuffed Tomatoes are exactly that kind of dish, the sort of thing you make when tomatoes are peaking and no one wants to stand over a stove, the sort of thing that doesn’t need to be tracked to matter. Miss Ernestine would’ve had one in each hand.

Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 25 min | Total Time: 45 min | Servings: 4

Ingredients

4 large ripe beefsteak tomatoes
1 cup cooked long-grain white rice
1/2 cup Italian-seasoned breadcrumbs, divided
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
1/4 cup finely diced yellow onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes (optional)

Instructions

Preheat and prep. Preheat your oven to 375°F. Lightly oil a baking dish large enough to hold all four tomatoes snugly upright.
Hollow the tomatoes. Slice off the top quarter of each tomato and set the caps aside. Using a spoon, carefully scoop out the pulp and seeds into a bowl, leaving a 1/4-inch wall. Roughly chop the pulp and reserve — you’ll use it in the filling. Lightly salt the inside of each tomato shell and turn them upside down on paper towels to drain for 10 minutes.
Sauté the aromatics. Warm 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the diced onion and cook until softened, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute more. Stir in the reserved tomato pulp and cook until most of the liquid has evaporated, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
Make the filling. In a large bowl, combine the cooked rice, the tomato and onion mixture, half the breadcrumbs, half the Parmesan, the basil, parsley, oregano, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes if using. Stir well to combine.
Fill and top. Pat the tomato shells dry and place them in the prepared baking dish. Spoon the filling generously into each shell, mounding it slightly. In a small bowl, mix the remaining breadcrumbs and Parmesan with the remaining tablespoon of olive oil. Sprinkle this mixture evenly over the tops of the filled tomatoes.
Bake. Bake uncovered at 375°F for 22–25 minutes, until the tomatoes are tender and the topping is golden brown. Let rest 5 minutes before serving.

Nutrition (per serving)

Italian Stuffed Tomatoes — Summer’s Lightest Meal, Made for the Heat (and the Tracking)