Bev's Cold Tomatoes

Our fresh garden tomatoes are slowly coming to an end. I made this the other day with baby kale in place of the spinach, because I had a ton of it. A great make-ahead dish, and can be used as a salad or vegetable. Also a great winter dish when you have to resort to grocery store tomatoes. Roasting the worse tomato in the world will bring out the great flavor.

Don't forget to visit Miz Helen's Country Cottage today for Full Plate Thursday!

Bev's Cold Tomatoes
6 servings
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2 pounds spinach, cooked briefly, thoroughly drained and finely chopped
3/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup pine nuts
2 medium onions, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
6 medium tomatoes
Sugar
Dried or fresh basil to taste

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Drain the spinach thoroughly, then squeeze out the remaining moisture.

3. In a skillet heat one-quarter cup of the olive oil with the pine nuts and saute until lightly browned. Add the onions and garlic and cook briefly until the onions are pale golden in color. Remove from heat.

4. Add the spinach, one-quarter cup of the remaining oil, the salt, and pepper.

5. Cut the stem ends from the tomatoes, hollow them out and sprinkle the insides with salt, pepper and a little sugar and a pinch of basil. Stuff the tomatoes with the spinach mixture.

6. Arrange the tomatoes in a baking pan and pour the remaining oil over them. Bake until the tomatoes wrinkle, about 15 minutes. Chill. At serving time, bring to room temperature.