Stuffed Tomatoes

Every year for my husbands birthday I make him these yummy stuffed tomatoes. They are a special recipe that his aunt and mother have made him for years, so on his special day of course I need to make him these meat filled tomatoes...
These are versatile in that you can use whatever ground meat you prefer, I always use a zesty type of ground pork sausage, but you could use ground beef, lamb, chicken etc...  Also in the tomatoes this year I mixed in some riced cauliflower as well which was a nice way to squeeze in some extra nutrients and an almost rice like texture.  You could also do these in bell peppers and acorn squash which I have a separate recipe on the blog for.  These are a very awesome "gourmet" type of dinner to serve up to dinner guests that may not be "Paleo," guests, and they would not even know that the bread is missing from the dinner table...yes they are that good!  These taste great served up with some sauteed zucchini and a mixed green salad.  Enjoy!


Serves 4

Ingredients:  

•  8 Large tomatoes (that you will be able to stuff, the larger and semi firm the better, then they will not fall apart as easily)
• 1 pound of ground pork sausage (I used one that was a spicy flavor)
• 2 cloves garlic (minced)
• 1 large onion (diced)
• 1 cup of riced cauliflower
• 1/4 cup of freshly chopped parsley
• salt and pepper to taste
• additional parsley for garnish

Method:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Begin browning the sausage, throw in the onion along with it. After the meat is partially browned toss in the garlic and cauliflower, continue browning.  Season the meat with the parsley, salt and pepper (taste occasionally and adjust seasoning). With a sharp paring knife, cut a round opening at the top of each tomato large enough to scoop out the insides.  Taking a spoon, carefully scoop out the insides of each tomato, taking care not to rip through the tomato at any point and don't make it too thin, you need a good sturdy "bowl" for the meat that won't fall apart when baked.  Place the tomatoes in a casserole dish.  Scoop enough meat to fill each tomato generously then bake covered with aluminum foil for about 20-25 min, long enough to meld the flavors together and to get the tomatoes soft enough, but not too long where they fall apart.  Garnish with parsley and serve.