A particularly fresh summer dish, black rice stuffed tomatoes with pesto and pine nuts.
Stuffed vegetables in summer can save a dinner with friends or a weekend garden buffet. Black rice stuffed tomatoes can be prepared in advance and stored in the fridge, warmed up before serving, and you’re done. 
Of course, in summer nightshades take center stage, including stuffed eggplants, stuffed peppers and in this case, stuffed tomatoes.
But not only that, also delicious are the stuffed zucchinis and stuffed zucchini flowers.
I mentioned nightshades because as you know, one should not overdo it with these kinds of vegetables.
They contain solanine as potatoes do.
Solanine is an anti-nutrient and is not ideal for our bodies, especially if consumed in excess or if we do not vary the vegetables on our plates.
Cooking results in a significant reduction of solanine, an alkaloid present, but it’s better to be careful.
So we should choose yellow and red peppers, which contain less of it, cook the eggplants well, and the tomatoes should be fully ripe.
For potatoes, we know not to use them when they begin to sprout and always discard the green parts under the skin.
To sum up, vary, vary, vary always, do not only eat nightshades in summer!
Here are the black rice stuffed tomatoes, with some tips to prevent the tomato from making the filling too watery and to ensure it cooks perfectly.
Here are some more summer vegetable recipes:
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Preparation time: 1 Hour
- Portions: 12 stuffed tomatoes
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Healthy
- Seasonality: Summer
Ingredients for Black Rice Stuffed Tomatoes
- 12 tomatoes (round)
- 5.3 oz Venere rice
- 1.5 cups water
- pinches sea salt
- 2 tablespoons pesto
- 2 tablespoons pine nuts
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Preparation of Black Rice Stuffed Tomatoes
Wash the Venere rice thoroughly, transfer it into a pot, add 1.5 cups of water and a pinch of salt, cover with a lid, preferably transparent to check.
If you want to speed up the process, soak the black rice the night before with a piece of kombu seaweed.
In the morning, cook the rice while monitoring the water absorption, and when it is completely absorbed, the rice should be cooked, but it’s better to taste it since cooking may vary depending on the rice type.
If you prefer the rice more cooked, add a little more water and extend the cooking time by a few minutes.
Turn off the heat and let it rest for a few more minutes. Meanwhile, cut off the top of the tomatoes that you have washed well, and hollow out the tomatoes from pulp and juice.
At this point, put a pinch of salt in each tomato and turn them upside down to drain excess water in a colander. Meanwhile, strain the tomato pulp and set aside the juice for another use.
Chop the shallot, place it in a large pan with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, and let it soften.
Add the pulp from the tomatoes you scooped out and cook for about ten minutes.
Add the rice to season. Turn off the heat and add pine nuts and pesto.
Mix everything well and check if it’s flavorful enough.
Prepare a baking dish and grease it with a drizzle of olive oil.
Retrieve the tomatoes from the colander, and one by one, fill them with rice, close them with the top, and place them in the baking dish.
Bake at 356°F (180°C) for 40/45 minutes. Around 30 minutes in, check the cooking and cover with foil to avoid over-browning.
Delicious warm or cold even the next day.
Tips for Black Rice Stuffed Tomatoes
You can store black rice stuffed tomatoes in the refrigerator for up to two days.
