Spinach-Stuffed Tomatoes

I love vegetables. ALL vegetables. In any and every form. But my husband doesn't quite share my enthusiasm for them so it's important to keep things interesting yet healthy. This stuffed tomato recipe was just what the doctor ordered.

Ingredients:

• 2 tomatoes (I used vine ripe)
• 1/2 cup of Italian bread crumbs
• 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 clove of garlic, chopped
• 2 cups of baby spinach
• 1 TBSP extra-virgin olive oil

Directions:

• Preheat your toaster oven to 400 degree. (you could use a regular oven, but these are so tiny and easy that I decided to use the ol' toaster oven)
• Slice off the top of the tomato and scoop out the insides. On the first tomato I tried to cut out the insides and that seems like a lot of work. The second tomato I decided to try a different approach. I cut along the outside of the tomato (but with the knife on the inside... did I confuse you?) so that the tomato 'guts' were loosened from the shell. Then I reached my fingers in, twists in a circle, and pulled it out. I still had some cleanup work to do, but the majority was removed this way.
• Set on tin foil, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
• They should look like this:
• 

• Now add the rest of your ingredients (minus the tomatoes) into a food processor. Pulse grind to form the stuffing.
• Stuff the tomatoes to the rims with mixture like this:
• 

• Now move your tomatoes to the toaster over (remember, you already preheated it to 400) and bake for 10 to 12 minutes.
• Let stand 5 minutes after baking and enjoy!

These were fantastic! They were the perfect vegetable side for our dinner. Although I would taste the stuffing before you stuff the tomatoes. To me it seemed a little dry. I wish I would have sampled a little bit first and then added more olive oil. I also think a little bit of pesto would have been a nice compliment to the flavors.

Source: R. Ray Cookbook