Recipe - Veggie Tomato Cups

I've been growing Yellow Stuffing tomatoes for years and absolutely adore them. They are a lot like bell peppers, pleated in shape and hollow with thick walls and a small seed cavity.




These are productive plants, but unlike other yellow maters they take longer to ripen. But once they start, you'd better be ready for them! I got my seeds back in 2003 from Marianna's . All of the 2003 seeds that I got from them germinated this year. That's darned good considering I'm not the best at storing seeds. Somehow they never make it back into their dry container and into the fridge when I'm done sowing. It's just one of those things that I fail miserably at. You can find other seeds at TomatoFest (my second favorite place for heirloom maters), but these look a lot more pleated than the ones I have and may be harder to stuff.

What I do is stuff 'em and freeze 'em. Of course they are awesome fresh, but what better way to enjoy the summer bounty in January than to just pop a couple of these out of the freezer and shove them in the oven? There are endless stuffing possibilities, but I like to keep it simple. Haven't I mentioned I'm fairly clueless in the kitchen?

The cast of characters today included: onion, purple basil, flat-leaf parsley, swiss chard, eggplant, very ripe Ancho peppers, sweet yellow banana peppers, garlic (camera shy) and canned mushrooms. I really would have preferred some fresh shitake, but the mushroom fairy didn't come by last night.




Please, while you're cutting and chopping make sure you only have about a foot and a half of counter space to work on. This will make me feel better.

A little olive oil and minced garlic in the pan to start out with, then I get to chopping. Onions and peppers go first, and go ahead and throw a little chopped chard stem in there when no one is looking. Add the eggplant once the onions, peppers, and chard start to soften up. Toss in the mushrooms and parsley, then add the chopped up chard leaves. Stir around until the chard leaves are wilted then remove from heat.




While the mixture is cooling go ahead and slice the tops off your tomatoes and take out the seed cavity.





Once your mix is cooled off a bit, stir in the chopped basil and start stuffing!




Put them on a baking or pizza pan and stick them in the freezer until frozen solid. Then you can toss them into freezer bags or vacuum seal, which is what I do.

Let them thaw completely before putting in the oven at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes, or until hot in the middle. With about five min left of cooking time top with cheese. I like to use fresh grated Parmesan, mozzarella, or pepper jack depending on my mood and the entree that they'll be served with.

I also freeze a lot of these empty. Clean, slice, and remove the seed cavity before freezing. Let thaw completely and fill with a cold salad, such as seafood or tuna. Go ahead, get creative. And if you have a recipe you want to share, please do! My one yellow stuffing mater plant is going ballistic and I'm running out of ideas!