🌎 The World Cookbook

6 large tomatoes, heirloom
1/2 pound ground beef lean
1/2 cup white rice medium grain
3 cloves garlic pressed
1/2 onion finely diced
1/3 cup parsley chopped
1/4 cup basil chopped
1/2 cup asiago cheese shredded
to taste salt and pepper
5 tbsp olive oil

Preheat the oven to 325 F. Cut off the top of each tomato, creating a 'lid'. Put a fine mesh strainer over a bowl, and use your fingers to carefully scoop the seeds out of the tomatoes into the strainer. Push on the seeds to get all of the juice, then discard the seeds. Use a spoon to scoop out most of the flesh from the tomatoes, then chop that up and add to the tomato juice. Put the beef and rice in a large bowl, add the garlic, onion, parsley, basil, cheese and the tomato pieces and liquid. Add 2 ½ tablespoon of the olive oil, salt and pepper, and mix together well. Fill the tomatoes with the meat filling and arrange in a casserole dish. Top each tomato with its lid and drizzle with the remaining olive oil. Bake for about 1 hour 15 minutes, or until the tomatoes are soft and the rice is cooked. Let stand for about 15 minutes before serving.