Stuffed Tomatoes are a favorite of Cajun and Creole cooks and a treat to find on any table. Ripe tomatoes, stuffed with a savory blend of tomato, onions and peppers smothered and flavored with bacon and Louisiana herbs held together with a little bread crumbs together. This is Sweet Daddy D’s Stuffed Tomatoes, simple and elegant and not your ordinary side dish.
Sweet Daddy D's Stuffed Tomatoes
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Stuffed Tomatoes?
This is one of those side dishes that should require an up-charge whenever it is served. That’s not because it’s complicated, but because it’s so delicious and special that it elevates any meal with which it’s served. South Louisiana’s climate and soil are perfect for growing tomatoes and since Creole and Cajun cooks love to stuff things, it’s only natural. You’ll find stuffed tomatoes on fine dining menus and served in homes throughout the region. I think the best tomato to stuff is a Creole Tomato, which really isn’t a specific variety as much as it is a red, medium to large tomato grown in the rich alluvial soils of South Louisiana, specifically in the downriver Parishes of Plaquemines and St. Bernard.
My first encounter with a stuffed tomato was from my Mom’s kitchen while I was growing up. She introduced me to so many great dishes and instilled in me the desire to create my own. She was the Mother Unit (the MU) and when she passed away, I finagled her Recipe Box and from time to time I recreate and update some of my favorites from what I call the MU Collection. This recipe is my adaptation of one of my favorites.
Here Is What You Need
Ripe tomatoes-best with a medium to large, red tomato, like a Beefheart, but you can be creative with your favorite variety.
Ripe Tomatoes
Vegetables
- Yellow onion
- Bell peppers-green, red or yellow
- Garlic
Other Ingredients
- Smoked Bacon
- Worcestershire sauce
- Seasoned Breadcrumbs
- Butter
Herb and Spice Blend
- Dry thyme
- Dry basil
- Kosher salt
- Ground black pepper
Here's what you need
Optional Ingredients
- Smoked ham
- Sugar
- Romano cheese
Optional Ingredients
A note on the “optional ingredients”. This is a very versatile dish. The basic recipe, close to the MU’s original, is light and delicious, but when you add the ham and Romano cheese it’s taken to a new dimension. Of course, you can use the ham without the Romano or vice versa or leave them out altogether. The sugar helps cut some of the bitterness natural to tomatoes and again can be added without the ham and cheese as well.
Equipment
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Here Is What You Do
First...you have a beer. That’s the best place to start. Pop the cap off a beer and read the recipe all the way through while you sip. What do you need and what will you do with it? You’ll know that by reading the recipe thoroughly before you start. As soon as you pop that cap you have started your mise en place. This preparation will make things go smoothly.
Mise en place
Prepare the tomatoes-slice the stem end off of 6 tomatoes and scoop out the pulp with a melon baller. Place the pulp in a strainer or colander set over a bowl to catch any liquid that drains. This should yield between ¾ and 1 quart of pulp. Place the hollowed-out tomatoes upside down on a paper towel or a cooling rack.
Hollow out the tomatoes
Peel (by using the parboil method found here) and chop the remaining 3 tomatoes, adding the chopped tomatoes to the other pulp. This should yield an additional ¾ quart of pulp. Let this all drain while you prepare the other ingredients, reserving the liquid in case you need to thin out the stuffing later.
Chop the tomato pulp
The other vegetables get chopped very fine. The yellow onions go in one small bowl and the bell peppers and garlic are placed in another small bowl together. Slice the bacon in half lengthwise. If you are using the ham, chop it very fine and place it in its own small bowl. Measure all other ingredients-butter, Worcestershire, bread crumbs, Herb and Spice Blend, and the romano cheese and sugar, if you are using them. Set everything aside so that you can just assemble the recipe as you cook.
Everything preped
Make the stuffing
Starting in a cold Dutch oven (check out the Hints and Tips section below about this), fry the bacon over medium heat until crispy, which will take about 8 to 10 minutes.
Render the bacon
Remove the bacon from the Dutch oven and reserve. If you are using the ham, add it to the bacon grease and saute for about 2 to 3 minutes.
Fry the bacon (if using) in the bacon grease
Next, add the onions to the bacon grease and saute for about 5 minutes until they are starting to clear.
Saute the onions with the ham
Add the bell peppers, tomato pulp (don’t add the liquid that has drained), the Herb and Spice Blend, garlic, Worcestershire sauce and sugar (if using).
Everything in the pot!
Mix everything together very well. Increase the heat to bring everything to a heavy simmer, then reduce the heat and simmer slowly for 40 to 45 minutes while the liquid evaporates and the tomatoes soften.
Simmer and reduce
You will see that the tomatoes will still generate a lot of liquid even though you have drained them. The purpose of this step is to reduce that liquid and meld these flavors together, so stir often. Partially cover the Dutch oven and then uncover it completely during the last 10 minutes.
After simmering 40 minutes
Taste for seasoning and add more if needed.
Add all the crumbled bacon (reserve about 6 pieces of bacon to place on top of the stuffed tomatoes) and romano cheese (if using). Mix in the breadcrumbs in this manner: Start with about ½ cup of bread crumbs and mix it and the romano cheese (if using) completely before adding more. Stir in more breadcrumbs until you get the consistency you want, which is damp and firm like a stuffing.
Stir in the bacon, Romano cheese (if using) and bread crumbs
Simmer the mixture on low, uncovered, for another 5 minutes, stirring often so it does not stick to the bottom. Remove the Dutch oven from the heat, cover and let it sit for about 10 minutes to cool slightly.
Ready to stuff
Stuff and Bake the Tomatoes
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Prepare a 9” X 12” glass baking dish by applying cooking spray or a light coat of vegetable oil. Use a paper towel to dry any liquid that has accumulated inside the tomato shells.
Using a large spoon, fill each tomato shell with stuffing, packing down tightly to fill all the voids.
Pack the stuffing tight
Place the stuffed tomatoes in the 9” X 12” glass baking dish. Sprinkle some breadcrumbs on top of each tomato. [Optional topping-combine 1 tablespoon each of breadcrumbs and Romano cheese; sprinkle on top of each tomato]. Melt 1 tablespoon of butter and drizzle some on top of each tomato and place a small piece of bacon on top of each tomato.
Ready for the oven
Pour a little (about ½ cup into the bottom of the baking dish). Place the baking dish into the 325-degree Fahrenheit preheated oven and bake for 45 minutes or until golden brown on top.
Right from the oven!
That’s it, all there is to it.
Hints and Tips
Start the bacon in a cold pan. Besides wanting some crispy bacon pieces to add to our stuffing, we want to render as much bacon grease as possible to spread that wonderful flavor throughout the recipe. Bacon, thrown into a hot pan will curl and seize up, almost guaranteeing that the meat will cook before the fat is fully rendered and crispy. Starting it in a cold pan will slowly fry the bacon assuring that we are maximizing the rendering and the entire piece of bacon cooks evenly.
Here is a great step-by-step review of how to peel a fresh tomato...check it out!
Leftover stuffed tomatoes will last 3 to 4 days in the fridge if stored in an airtight container. This makes them a great make-ahead treat. Wrap the tomatoes tightly in plastic wrap, then wrap in aluminum foil or place in a ziplock bag or airtight container. To reheat, wrap the tomatoes in aluminum foil and place them in a 350 degree Fahrenheit preheated oven. Let them cook for about 20 to 30 minutes, then unwrap and let the top get crispy. You can also reheat them in a microwave-it's quicker but the tops won’t be as crispy.
Freeze? Tomatoes have such a high water content that freezing stuffed tomatoes is not really a good idea. The tomatoes will turn soggy when defrosted, which may be fine for sauces or as an ingredient, but not as a vessel for stuffing. One idea would be to freeze the stuffing, then when you are ready to serve, scoop out the center of some fresh tomatoes, stuff them and bake as directed.
The best tomatoes for this recipe are very ripe and large, thick-walled tomatoes like beefsteak or Creole tomatoes. You can use smaller tomatoes like Roma, you’ll just have lots of small stuffed tomatoes.
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. The price you pay as a consumer does not change, but I may make a small commission based on your purchase. These items from Amazon will help you with this recipe:
Try some of these other Stuffed Dishes fron Sweet Daddy D:
Looking for Cajun and Creole Calssics? Here you go!
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Yeah You Right!
Recipe
Stuffed Tomatoes
Here's What You Need
- 9 ripe tomatoes in all
- 5 slices bacon
- 1 ½ cups yellow onion chopped fine
- ½ cup bell pepper chopped fine
- 2 tablespoons garlic chopped fine
- ½ teaspoon dry thyme
- 1 teaspoon dry basil
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 cup Seasoned Breadcrumbs plus some for the topping
- 1 tablespoon melted butter
Optional ingredients:
- 8 ounces smoked ham chopped fine
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- ½ cup Romano cheese grated plus some for the topping
Here's What You Do
Preparation
- Slice off the stem end of 6 tomatoes. Using a melon baller, scoop out the pulp. Set the pulp aside. This should yield between ¾ and 1 quart of pulp.
- Peel (parboil method) and chop the remaining 3 tomatoes. This should yield an additional ¾ quart of pulp.
- Place the hollowed-out tomatoes upside down on a paper towel or a cooling rack.
- Place all of the tomato pulp in a strainer or colander over a bowl to drain. Reserve the drained liquid.
- Chop the yellow onions, bell peppers and garlic very fine.
- Slice the bacon in half lengthwise.
- Chop the ham very fine-if using.
- Measure all other ingredients and set aside.
Make the stuffing
- Starting in a cold Dutch oven, fry the bacon over medium heat until crisp (about 8 to 10 minutes), then remove from the Dutch oven and reserve.
- Saute onions in bacon grease until clear, about 5 minutes.
- Add the green peppers, tomato pulp (don’t add the liquid that has drained), thyme, garlic, Worcestershire, sugar (if using), and kosher salt and black pepper; mix well.
- Increase the heat to a heavy simmer, then reduce heat and simmer slowly for 40 to 45 minutes while the liquid evaporates and the tomatoes soften.
- During this time, stir often. Leave the Dutch oven partially covered and uncover completely for the last 10 minutes.
- Taste for seasoning and add more if needed.
- Crumble the bacon and add back to tomatoes (reserve about 6 pieces to place on top).
- Add the bread crumbs and the romano cheese (if using). Mix well.
- Start with about ½ cup of bread crumbs and mix it and the romano cheese (if using) before adding more. Add more until you get the consistency you want, which should be damp and firm like a stuffing.
- Simmer the mixture on low for another 5 minutes, stirring often.
- Once it has reached the consistency you want, remove from the heat, cover and let sit for about 10 minutes to cool slightly.
Stuff and Bake the Tomatoes
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Prepare a 9” X 12” glass baking dish by spraying with cooking spray or applying a light coat of oil.
- Use a paper towel to dry any liquid that has accumulated inside the tomato shells.
- Fill each tomato shell with stuffing, packing down with a spoon to fill all the voids.
- Place the stuffed tomatoes in the 9” X 12” glass baking dish. Sprinkle some breadcrumbs on top of each tomato. [Optional topping-combine 1 tablespoon each of breadcrumbs and Romano cheese; sprinkle on top of each tomato].
- Melt 1 tablespoon of butter and drizzle a little on top of each tomato.
- Place a small piece of bacon on top of each tomato.
- Place the baking dish into a 325-degree Fahrenheit preheated oven and bake for 45 minutes or until golden brown on top.
Marian
I can't begin to stress how good this dish is. It works well with just about any entree that I can think of, or it can be its own entree.
Sweet Daddy D
I'm so glad you liked it! Thanks for reaching out and sharing that with us!