Rice Stuffed Tomatoes are a great classic, a tasty dish to prepare during the summer season when tomatoes are at their sweetest.
They are excellent to serve as a first course, a clever recipe that will allow you to use leftover rice from other preparations like rice salad and even risotto. Just add your favorite ingredients or whatever you have on hand to change the flavor and have a dish that is always new and appetizing.
The recipe for preparing Rice Stuffed Tomatoes is very easy, it doesn’t require special kitchen skills and not much time at the stove since the tomatoes are used raw.
The filling of these stuffed tomatoes can be prepared in a thousand different ways; today I made a sort of rice salad dressed with tuna, cheese, sausages, and pickles, but you can use the ingredients you like most.
The recipe for Rice Stuffed Tomatoes is really simple and, in addition, the filling can be prepared in advance, stored in the fridge, and used to stuff the tomatoes when it’s close to lunch or dinner time without using an oven or pan.
The rice, besides being enriched with various ingredients, is flavored with oil and basil to blend perfectly with the taste of the tomatoes, creating a mix of Mediterranean flavors.
For a better outcome of the recipe, I recommend using ripe but still firm Italian tomatoes, preferably from organic farming.
Try the Rice Stuffed Tomatoes and prepare them by creating tasty variants for different fillings: with tuna and mozzarella, with ham and corn, with salmon and hard-boiled eggs, with ricotta and pesto, and much more.
A cheerful, colorful, easy, and very versatile recipe that can be adapted to all tastes, the perfect cold dish to prepare in summer even in advance and keep in the fridge for several days, a first course that everyone in the family will enjoy, including children.
If you like Rice Salads also try
- Difficulty: Very Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Portions: 4
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
- Energy 453.11 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 41.41 (g) of which sugars 2.42 (g)
- Proteins 17.38 (g)
- Fat 24.36 (g) of which saturated 6.58 (g)of which unsaturated 5.47 (g)
- Fibers 2.28 (g)
- Sodium 1,106.83 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 125 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients
- 4 vine tomatoes
- 1 cup Ribe rice
- 3.5 oz tuna in oil
- 2.6 oz edam cheese
- 3 sausages (small)
- 1 oz black olives (optional)
- 2.5 oz mixed pickles (pickled vegetables)
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon tuna sauce
- to taste salt
Tools
- Bowl
- Pot
- Pan
Steps
Place a pot of plenty of salted water on the stove, and once it reaches a boil, pour in the rice and cook it slightly al dente (about 2 minutes less than the cooking time indicated on the package).
Meanwhile, prepare the dressing: cook the sausages for a few minutes in a non-stick pan and then cut them into pieces; also cut the cheese into cubes; drain the tuna from the preservation oil, and cut the mixed pickles into cubes as well.
Wash the tomatoes, remove the top, empty them, and collect the pulp in a bowl.
When there are 2-3 minutes left for the rice to cook, drain it and cool it under running cold water. Transfer it to a salad bowl, pour in two tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, and mix. Taste and adjust salt if necessary.
In the rice bowl, add: sausages, cheese, tuna, pitted olives, and pickles; season with another tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil and 1 tablespoon of tuna sauce (my grandma’s trick!), store-bought is just fine. Mix and cover with plastic wrap until it’s time to fill the tomatoes. If you prepare the rice well in advance, store it in the refrigerator.
Stuff the tomatoes with the rice salad and serve at room temperature.
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NOTES
RICE To prepare the Rice Stuffed Tomatoes to perfection, not just any rice will do. You need to choose a type of rice that holds up well during cooking without becoming mushy, like Ribe, Arborio, or Carnaroli rice.
DRESSING As for the ingredients to add to the rice, it can be said that practically every family has its version. In any case, the most common ingredients for preparing Rice Stuffed Tomatoes are cheese, ham, tuna, tomatoes, and hard-boiled eggs. As an alternative to sausages, you can choose or add diced cooked ham or mortadella; for cheese, you can opt for emmental or provolone if you like stronger flavors, or mozzarella and primo sale if you prefer milder tastes. Whatever ingredient you choose, the important thing is that it is cut into small cubes.
FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
Rice Amounts and Cooking Water for Rice Salad
Rice should be cooked in plenty of salted water: normally, the amount of water is considered to be 5 times the amount of rice to be cooked. The amount of salt for each liter of water is about 8 grams per liter.
