Do you also have a Grandma who shares recipes? The Baked Stuffed Tomatoes with Eggs are perfect for these hot and sunny summer days. Yesterday, I was on the phone with Grandma Sandrina and while telling her about my hectic workday, she talked about baked stuffed tomatoes. I think it was her way of changing the subject or maybe she really wanted to pass on this recipe. She knew that her son Mauro, my uncle, brought me some beautiful red tomatoes during the week, so while I was biking home, she explained what to do.
So this morning, I got to work and gathered all the ingredients needed for this recipe, along with all the tools I’ll be using to prepare these red stuffed tomatoes with eggs and cheese. I also made a video recipe for you to follow, which you can find below the first photo or on the YouTube Channel of Le Ricette di Bea!
As advised by Grandma Sandra and as I also advise you, you can enjoy this dish of cold stuffed tomatoes, simply by preparing them in advance, letting them cool at room temperature, and then enjoying them whenever and wherever you like. They are perfect to bring for lunch at the office, to enjoy under the beach umbrella, or for a weekend picnic. You can prepare this unique dish with tomatoes in the evening, so you won’t have to turn on the oven during the hottest part of the day, and then store the stuffed tomatoes in a lidded container and keep them in the refrigerator.
This dish with baked stuffed tomatoes with eggs and cheese is very simple, if you think that my grandma explained it to me in a few minutes while I was on my bike, you should have a good idea of how easy it is to prepare this rich and flavorful side dish. Choose your favorite spice or aromatic herb, take some nice ripe red tomatoes, eggs, a glass of milk, breadcrumbs from Grandma, and some cheese to start this recipe! Grandma is not only a source of recipes to pass down but also an efficient supplier of old bread, which she skillfully grates at home with great patience, and grated cheese that she also prepares with the same patience for the whole family.
This season, Sandra has a zucchini flower plant that produces more than she can cook, so she also gifts these delicate little flowers. I will likely be able to prepare some new recipes for you with zucchini flowers beyond what’s already available on my cooking blog.
Before moving on to this simple and quick recipe for baked stuffed tomatoes which we can serve as an appetizer, a rich side dish, or a main course, I’ll leave you with some other ideas you can prepare with tomatoes. From the classic stuffed tomatoes with tuna to grilled tomatoes perfect for summer garden barbecues. Then there’s the Stacked Caprese, not your usual Mozzarella and Tomato, and the Baked Feta with Cherry Tomatoes and Basil which becomes addictive, it will become one of your favorite dishes to make once a week, I assure you.
All the links below are clickable and will take you directly to the recipe you choose to read. I also remind you that I look forward to seeing you every morning in the group and on the Facebook fan page of Le Ricette di Bea with the Recipe of the Day and many other live contents from my kitchen.
- Difficulty: Very Easy
- Cost: Very Cheap
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 1Person
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Summer, Spring
- Energy 761.40 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 100.28 (g) of which sugars 18.24 (g)
- Proteins 31.08 (g)
- Fat 26.37 (g) of which saturated 13.63 (g)of which unsaturated 10.24 (g)
- Fibers 10.14 (g)
- Sodium 2,108.36 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 400 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 for Baked Stuffed Tomatoes with Eggs and Cheese
- 4 oxheart tomatoes (medium large)
- 3 eggs (at room temperature)
- 5.3 oz cheese (to be grated)
- 5.3 oz breadcrumbs (in Marche, bread is unsalted, if your bread is salted, reduce the amount of salt)
- Half glass milk
- 0.11 oz salt
- 1 pinch nutmeg (optional)
- to taste oregano (or another aromatic herb you like)
I did not use extra virgin olive oil for this recipe, I didn’t want to add other liquid ingredients for fear that the tomatoes might fall apart during baking. Grandma, and I too, recommend adding olive oil raw, once the worst is over, to season your dish of baked stuffed tomatoes with eggs and grated cheese.
I love the crunchy crust, thick and fragrant with oregano in these baked stuffed tomatoes, so I didn’t add olive oil after baking, because I genuinely like them that way.
Before starting this recipe, prepare the grated cheese and breadcrumbs, of course, you can buy both at the supermarket. This can be an idea for using up stale bread and hardened cheese you have in the fridge. I didn’t specify in the list of necessary tools for preparation a manual grater or electric grater since you can buy already the indicated amounts of both ingredients without this extra initial work.
Tools for Preparing Baked Stuffed Tomatoes with Cheese and Eggs
- 1 Bowl
- 1 Cutting Board
- 1 Knife
- 1 Baking Pan
- 1 Oven
- 1 Glass
- 1 Spoon
- 1 Kitchen Towel
If you will prepare the cheese and breadcrumbs yourself, you will need a manual grater or an electric grater.
Recipe Steps for Stuffed Tomatoes with Eggs and Cheese
We begin by turning on the oven to static mode between 356 and 392 degrees Fahrenheit. I set the oven to 392 degrees because I have a new oven that works well and I am not afraid of high temperatures for cooking vegetables and other main dishes of meat or fish. Next, we take the oxheart tomatoes and wash them under the running water of the faucet. Pat them dry with kitchen paper or a cloth. Then, place them on a wooden cutting board and use the tip of a knife to incise the top part of the red tomato without breaking it.
Now let’s take the bowl and a spoon and gently scoop out the cores of all four ripe tomatoes we have. Put what you extract from the tomatoes in the bowl and with your hands break it up as much as possible, removing the hard part of the central core of the tomato. In the video recipe, this step is shown very clearly, so you will understand more than with written words.
Once the central part with the tomato seeds is extracted and reduced to a puree in the bowl, we can proceed. Add the two whole eggs, I only added two because the tomatoes were rich in water and the third egg wasn’t necessary. I recommend doing as I did so you don’t have to add too much breadcrumbs.
Using the spoon, start working the ingredients in the bowl, also adding the cheese and breadcrumbs. You will see that the mixture becomes nice and thick, perfect for filling the oxheart tomatoes in the oven. Sprinkle with salt, pepper if you like, nutmeg, and oregano. I used dried oregano because my poor plant is suffering from the heat and isn’t green and lush right now. As an aromatic herb to flavor the tomatoes, I recommend either fresh basil or oregano, but if you like, you can also use parsley.
Now that we have prepared the filling for the baked tomatoes, we can proceed. Place the oxheart tomatoes in a baking pan; parchment paper is not necessary for preparing this side dish. With a spoon or a small ladle, scoop the mixture from the bowl and gently pour it into the tomatoes, doing it slowly and with great care. They mustn’t break during this phase of the recipe.
Once all the oxheart tomatoes are filled and placed in the baking pan, sprinkle them with another pinch of salt, oregano, and breadcrumbs, adding more cheese if you like, so that a lovely tasty crust forms.
We can now bake and cook for at least 30 minutes, if the tomatoes are not too large. In my case, it took 35 minutes to cook. It is not necessary to move, turn, or do anything else during the oven cooking of the stuffed tomatoes, so leave them there to ensure they do not break.
Once cooking is finished, we can remove the tomatoes from the oven and let them cool for a few minutes before serving them to our family, friends, or guests. As mentioned, we can take this unique dish of baked tomatoes with us by placing them in a lidded container.
Finally, I must remind you that I look forward to seeing you in my kitchen every day, that is here on the blog, with lots of easy, quick, and delicious recipes like this one. To subscribe to the social profiles of Le Ricette di Bea, you will find the box with links below. I wish you a good appetite!!!
Storage and Variations of the Baked Stuffed Tomatoes with Eggs and Cheese Recipe
We can store the stuffed oxheart tomatoes in the fridge, tightly sealed in a container, for a couple of days. We can also freeze them for a few weeks. In both cases, the tomatoes should be well cooled, and then we should take care to reheat them in a hot oven for a few minutes. In the latter case, that is, storage in the freezer, remember to take them out the night before to consume them the next day, allowing them to defrost gently in the fridge.
