Looking for wholesome comfort food with a vibrant Mediterranean twist? These golden-roasted tomatoes are filled to the brim with a flavour-packed veggie mix and topped off with creamy pesto for a fresh, herby finish.
You will need
Serves 5
- 5 large truss tomatoes
For the stuffing:
- 1 small zucchini, sliced into thin half moons
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons tomato pulp (from tomatoes)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/4 teaspoon chili flakes (optional)
- 1/2 cup roasted peppers, in strips
- 1/2 cup natural unseasoned tempeh, crumbled
- 3 tablespoons pine nuts
- 1 tablespoon olive oil (for toasting tempeh/nuts)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- Pepper, to taste (optional)
For the pesto:
- 1/4 cup cashews or pine nuts, toasted
- A handful of basil
- 1 clove of garlic
- 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste
Recipe: Heartful Table
Directions
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Step 1
Preheat the oven to 200℃.
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Step 2
With a sharp knife, cut off the tops of the tomatoes, saving them for later. To hollow out the tomatoes, it’s easiest if you first cut around the inside wall. With a teaspoon, scoop out the inside. Set aside 2 tablespoons of the pulp to add to the stuffing later. When carving out the tomato be careful to leave the walls of the tomatoes intact. Once done, turn them upside down on a plate to drain any excess liquid and set them aside.
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Step 3
To a small pan on medium-high heat, add the zucchini, garlic, 2 tablespoons of tomato pulp, a tablespoon of olive oil, and chilli flakes if you like it spicy and sauté for about 7–10 minutes. Once the zucchini is tender, transfer the mixture to a bowl and add the strips of capsicum.
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Step 4
Crumble the tempeh with your fingers until it falls apart into small grain-size pieces. In the same pan, toast the pine nuts and tempeh with a tablespoon of olive oil and a pinch of salt until golden in colour.
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Step 5
Add those to the bowl too. Mix all the ingredients with another tablespoon of olive oil, and season with salt and pepper to taste.
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Step 6
With a small spoon, fill the tomatoes with the stuffing all the way to the top, making sure they don’t have any empty patches but also being careful not to break the walls of the tomato.
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Step 7
Place tomatoes on a baking tray and place the tomato tops back on, baking for 25–30 minutes.
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Step 8
While the tomatoes are baking, prepare the pesto. In a pan, lightly toast the cashews and then add to a small food processor with the basil, garlic, nutritional yeast, olive oil, and salt. Blend until smooth, then add 3–4 tablespoons of cold water to balance the consistency.
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Step 9
When the tomatoes are baked, take them out of the oven and set aside to cool down a little while you prepare the plates.
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Step 10
With a spoon, put a big dollop (a tablespoon) of pesto in the middle of the plate and make a bed for the tomato to sit on. You can be creative with the pesto and create any design you like but remember that this is the only herb used in the dish and it should be scooped up with every mouthful. Carefully place the tomato from the baking tray onto the pesto to serve.
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Recipe: Heartful Table
