Baked Stuffed Tomatoes

Matt isn't terribly fond of vegetables. But tomatoes are one thing he will eat. And he loves baked stuffed tomatoes. So, I would say this recipe is kid tested and kid approved. But it's actually husband tested and husband approved which is a more rigorous standard of testing ;-)

When I was trying to decide between getting Boursin or Alouette cheese, I was looking at the labels. Alouette said "all natural!" So I thought I would get that one. But when I looked at the ingredients, it had a bunch of weird stuff like xanthan gum and guar gum. The Boursin didn't have any of that. It was all real ingredients; despite the fact that it didn't do any advertising about how natural it was. Go figure! Anyways, that's just my two cents...

Baked Stuffed Tomatoes
Makes: 3 tomatoes

3 medium tomatoes
pinch of sea salt
1 package Boursin or Alouette herb and garlic cheese
3 tbsp panko bread crumbs

• Wash the tomatoes. Cut a very small slice off the bottoms (this will help them to stand up straight). Cut off the tops.
• With a spoon, scoop out the seeds and fleshy membranes so that you have three hollow tomatoes.
• You don't have to throw away the part that you scoop out. You could cook it down and make it into sauce or dice it up and put it in a salad or an omelette.

• Sprinkle a little bit of sea salt inside each tomato. Then place the tomatoes in a glass baking dish.
• Stuff as much cheese as you can get into each tomato. Depending on the size of your tomatoes, you may end up using the whole package of cheese or you may have some left overs. I used up about 2/3 of the package.
• Very carefully sprinkle one tablespoon of panko on top of each tomato.
• Bake at 350° F for 20 - 25 minutes until the tomatoes are soft and the bread crumbs are lightly golden brown.

Tip: Store your tomatoes on the counter top instead of the refrigerator to prevent them from developing a bitter flavor.