unstuffed tomatoes

my husband's reaction was "caroline, this is ABSURD!"

Hi!

Let’s get straight into what I think will be the newest cult WTC fave: unstuffed tomatoes! To give you an idea of how very easy this recipe is — I got home on Thursday after four book tour events, was watching the kids by myself while George took a much deserved break, and still managed to cook this for dinner!

Also a warning on portions: George ate half the skillet! Feel free to double it and cook it in an ovenproof pot such as a Dutch oven! Makes for great leftovers or a freezer meal!

I had the most perfect stuffed tomatoes when I was eating dinner with my cousin Marlea at Chez Fonfon in Birmingham, Alabama during the third leg of my book tour this week. Stuffed tomatoes are a classic French dish where whole tomatoes are scooped out, filled with rice flavored with garlic and basil or parsley, topped with breadcrumbs, and baked — SO good. But, way too fussy to cook when I don’t feel like cooking.

When I got home, I immediately started playing around with how to make those same flavors What To Cook friendly, and voila: unstuffed tomatoes. A one-skillet meal filled with perfectly fluffy rice, jammy roasted tomatoes, pesto breadcrumbs (yep), very few ingredients, but SO MUCH FLAVOR.

George’s reaction to this meal was, and I quote “Caroline this is ABSURD" so, ya know, I think it’s worth adding to this week’s meal plan!!!

What To Cook, the book, made the NYT bestseller list for the 4th week in a row this week! GEEZE, guys. My editor literally told me it was not possible since Amazon and Target were out of stock the entire week. She underestimated the power of Y’ALL! Seriously, all of your shares and posts and tags are making this book find all of the people who don’t feel like cooking out there, and I am so deeply appreciative.

I am happy to report that the book is back on Amazon and on steep sale — it’s $24 at the time that I’m posting this. Target already sold out again, sheesh!

There are just a few more stops left on the What to Cook book tour! I am heading to Texas on September 25th, with events lined up in Dallas, Austin, and Houston. Then I am wrapping things up back in California, in Palo Alto and Monterey. You’ll find all the deets here — come see me!!! We added more tickets already, but I’m afraid the Texas events will sell out again soon so get your tickets now!

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a very unstyled photo of a very delicious recipe this week, kid toes and all!

unstuffed tomatoes

Serves: 4

Cook time: 1 hour

Tools:

• Chef’s knife

• Cutting board

• 10 or 12 inch OVENPROOF skillet. I used cast iron, but nonstick is also great if you have an ovenproof nonstick! Stainless steel is great here, too.

• A mismatched pot lid, baking sheet, or aluminum foil for covering the skillet!

• Small bowl