Sausage, Parmesan, Lots of Cooked Onions? Oh, Yes!
There are tomatoes and then there are tomatoes, by which I mean great end-of-summer tomatoes. I’ve been making BLT’s like there’s no tomorrow, caprese salads, panzanella, and just slicing them with a little salt and olive oil. Aren’t they one of life’s great joys.
It kind of seems like a crime to even consider cooking with them because they’re so good raw, but I’ve now made these sausage stuffed tomatoes with good, but average tomatoes and with superb tomatoes and the difference is notable. The first time around I made them with average tomatoes and we all thought the finished dish was delicious, but when I made them with great tomatoes the flavor intensified and became profound.
There’s nothing at all complicated here. The part that takes the most time is scooping out the centers of the tomatoes. I simply slice of the tops, use a small paring knife to slice around the perimeter of the tomatoes (being careful not to cut into the skins), and then use a spoon to scoop out the pulp.
Before I start on the tomatoes, I chop up a large onion and get it cooking in some butter in a large skillet. I think it’s important to get the onions cooked until they’re fully softened and start turning golden. That’s where the flavor lies. Using a technique from my favorite meatloaf recipe, I pour a little water into the skillet when it comes off the heat and let it cool down. The water provides moisture to the sausage stuffing.
I make fresh breadcrumbs from a thick slice of bread, add minced parsley leaves, an egg, dry mustard, grated parmesan, salt, pepper, a pound of bulk pork breakfast sausage, and the cooked onions. All of this I mix together with my hands and then spoon it into the hollowed-out tomatoes. Why breakfast sausage? Well, I chose it because it gives me more control over the seasonings than Italian sausage or other kinds of sausage that are pre-seasoned. Breakfast sausage is mildly seasoned and is perfect here.
In the meantime, I chopped up all the tomato pulp I’d removed from the insides of the tomatoes and put it into a baking dish. Then I sliced 1 orange into thin wedges and added it to the tomato pulp, along with a tablespoon of tomato vinegar ,* salt and pepper, and a tablespoon of capers. No need to be concerned if you don’t have tomato vinegar * because red wine vinegar is also good in this. It’s what I used the first time I made it, but tomato vinegar adds more tomato flavor.
I put those beautiful stuffed tomatoes in the dish, topped them with their lids, drizzled on a tiny bit of olive oil and baked them for an hour. I like to let them cool for awhile after they came out of the oven because I think these are best served warm, but not hot.
I can’t emphasize strongly enough how great the sauce is. After skimming off the excess fat, I broke open the tomatoes, spooned some of those juices over the sausage filling, and then served the orange slices and tomato sauce on the side. Those little pieces of orange completely soften up after simmering in the juices and they’re so delicious. I also spooned some on top of rice. I swear I could drink it, it really is that scrumptious. And seeing as there are 3 of us, we had these again as leftovers a couple of nights later and they heated up perfectly in the microwave. All in all, a great way to enjoy the last of the great summer tomatoes.
*Disclosure: I only recommend products I use myself and all opinions expressed here are my own. This post may contain affiliate links that, at no additional cost to you, may pay me a small commission and help support the costs of this website. Read full privacy policy here .
Sausage Stuffed Tomatoes with Orange
6
servingsRipe tomatoes are stuffed with pork sausage, cooked onions, parmesan, and a few other goodies. They're baked on a bed of chopped tomato pulp, sliced oranges, capers, a little vinegar, and seasoning. Talk about great!! The juices alone are worth making the recipe. I promise.
Keep the screen of your device on
Ingredients
6 large fully ripe tomatoes
2 tablespoons salted butter
1 large (430g) yellow onion, finely chopped
Morton kosher salt
3 large garlic cloves, grated
1/3 cup water
1 thick slice (80g) sandwich bread
40 g flat leaf parsley leaves
1 large egg
1/2 heaping teaspoon dry mustard
40 g (1/2 cup) Parmesan cheese, finely grated
1 pound bulk pork breakfast sausage
1 tablespoon tomato vinegar * or red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon capers, rinsed
1 large orange, sliced thinly, and cut into quarters
Black pepper, freshly ground
2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
Fresh thyme or parsley leaves or for garnish, optional
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350° with a rack in the center. Slice the tops off the tomatoes, reserving the caps, and roughly scoop out the insides. There’s no need to be too exact about this step. Simply scoop out the majority of the tomato pulp, keeping the sides of the tomatoes intact, place it in a bowl, and set aside. Sprinkle the insides of the tomatoes with kosher salt and set aside.
- Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat, add the onions to the pan, along with a big pinch of salt, and cook until they’re fully softened and starting to turn golden, approximately 25 minutes, adjusting the heat as necessary to prevent them from burning. Add the garlic and cook for another minute. Remove from the heat, stir in the water, scraping up any cooked bits from the bottom of the skillet, and let cool to room temperature.
- Add the bread to the bowl of a food processor, pulse until very fine, and place in a large bowl (no need to wash out the processor bowl). Add the parsley to the processor bowl, pulse until fine, and add it to the bowl of breadcrumbs. Stir in the egg, dry mustard, parmesan cheese, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plenty of black pepper. Add the sausage and the reserved onions, mixing with your hands until mostly combined. There’s no need to mix it to death because then it will be tough.
- Spoon the filling into the tomatoes, heaping it on top, but don’t press it into the tomatoes too firmly, otherwise the tomatoes will split.
- Chop the reserved tomato pulp and add to a 3 quart shallow casserole dish. Stir in the tomato vinegar *, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, plenty of black pepper, capers, and orange pieces. Place the tomatoes on top of the sauce, place the caps on top, drizzle with 2 teaspoons olive oil. Bake for 1 hour. Remove from the oven and let cool for 15 minutes, skimming the excess fat from the sauce. Spoon some of the tomatoes, oranges and their juices on top of the tomatoes, along with a little fresh thyme or parsley. Enjoy!