Ricotta & Orzo Stuffed Tomatoes

Well, life has been a little busy lately and I have grown very delinquent on posting.  I guess when most of your pots and pans are packed for a month it makes it a bit hard to cook.  This is officially my first post in my new place.  Most of my weekends since moving in have involved some sort of home improvement project and multiple trips to Home Depot – I believe my house is putting me through a little new home buyer hazing (I hope it ends soon). 

 Being that is it Memorial Day weekend, I wanted to make something that felt summery to me and tomatoes seemed to fit the bill.  I found this recipe on Pinterest but it looks like it originated on a diet food blog.  Despite that, the recipe sounded and looked really good so I thought I would give it a try.  I tweaked it slightly by adding parmesan cheese to it to help with the taste.  Overall I would say it was pretty good, but probably doesn’t cut it to make it into a normal rotation (I am a bit picky).  I also think it would be better as a side vs. a main dish. 

Ingredients:

4-5 tomatoes

1/2 cup uncooked orzo

3/4 cup Ricotta

½ cup Parmesan Cheese

1/2 green bell pepper, finely diced

1/2 tablespoon dried oregano

1/8 cup fresh parsley, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste

1/2 lemon, juiced

2 tablespoons olive oil

Directions:

Line a baking sheet with foil.  Slice off the stem end of the tomatoes and hollow out the inside.  Sprinkle salt in the hollow portion of each tomato and place hollow-side down; set aside.

Stir 1/2 cup uncooked orzo into boiling water.  Cook for 5-10 minutes.  Drain and wash with cool water.

In a large mixing bowl, combine ricotta, parmesan, diced pepper, oregano, parsley, garlic, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and olive oil; mix it all together.  Gently fold in the orzo.  Taste for salt and pepper, and adjust.  Using a large spoon, fill the tomatoes with the orzo mixture.  You can either serve them cold or bake in the oven.  I made this for dinner, so I wanted it hot.  Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. 

Recipe Source: Diethood.com

Picture Source: Lindsay Klindt