Sicilian Stuffed Tomatoes Recipes

SICILIAN STUFFED TOMATOES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Oil a baking dish large enough to accommodate all of the tomatoes. Cut off the top fourth of the tomatoes, and reserve the tops. Place a strainer over a bowl, and gently scoop or squeeze out the seeds without breaking the tomatoes. Rub the seed pockets against the strainer to extract juice. Discard the seeds. Using a grapefruit spoon, scoop out as much of the tomato pulp from inside the skins as you can, but don't break the skins. Chop the pulp, and set aside.
• Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil over medium heat in a medium skillet. Add the onion. Cook 5 to 8 minutes, stirring often, until tender and beginning to color. Add the garlic. Stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the anchovies, parsley, capers, olives, bread crumbs and tomato pulp. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and stir for about two minutes until fragrant and well amalgamated. Moisten as desired with the strained juice. Fill the tomatoes with this mixture and place them in the baking dish. Return the tops. Brush with the remaining olive oil.
• Place in the oven, and bake 20 to 25 minutes, until the skins begin to wrinkle. The tomatoes should be soft but not mushy. Serve hot, warm or at room temperature.

ITALIAN STUFFED TOMATOES

Steps:

• Cut a thin slice off the top of each tomato. Leaving a 1/2-in. thick shell, scoop out the pulp; chop pulp and set aside. Invert the tomatoes onto paper towels to drain. , Meanwhile, cook sausage, onion and garlic in a skillet until sausage is no longer pink; drain. Add tomato pulp, zucchini, basil, oregano, vinegar, salt and pepper. Simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat. Stir in rice, provolone, 3 tablespoons Parmesan and parsley; spoon about 2/3 cup into each tomato. , Place in an ungreased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish. Sprinkle remaining Parmesan on top. Cover and bake at 350° for 20 minutes. Uncover and bake 15 minutes more or until the tomatoes are heated through.

STUFFED SQUID SICILIAN-STYLE

Steps:

• Make the filling: Blanch the chard in boiling water for 1 minute, then drain and cool under running water. Squeeze chard completely dry and finely chop. Set aside.
• Put 3 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet or wide saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and fennel, season with salt and pepper, and cook until softened and lightly colored, about 10 minutes.
• Add fennel fronds, fennel seed, anchovy, garlic, oregano and red pepper. Cook, stirring, for about 2 minutes more.
• Turn off heat and transfer mixture to a mixing bowl. Add pine nuts, lemon zest, bread crumbs, cheese and reserved cooked chard. Mix well with a wooden spoon. Taste and correct seasoning.
• Heat oven to 375 degrees. Using a teaspoon, put some filling in each squid body, taking care not to overstuff. Place stuffed squid in an earthenware baking dish in one layer. Season squid on both sides with salt and pepper and drizzle with 2 tablespoons olive oil. Season tentacles with salt and pepper and arrange them around the edge of dish (alternatively, arrange tentacles in a separate baking dish). Drizzle tentacles lightly with oil. Spoon any remaining stuffing over tentacles.
• Roast uncovered for 15 to 20 minutes, until squid bodies are puffed, sizzling and lightly browned. If desired, run pan under the broiler for more color. Sprinkle with parsley and serve with lemon wedges. (May also be served at room temperature.) Serve each person 3 or 4 squid, with tentacles.

STUFFED CALAMARI, SICILIAN STYLE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Clean the 12 large squid tubes; remove skin and cartilage inside the squid and rinse and clean. In a large pan saute onions in 2 tablespoons olive oil until soft. In a large bowl, combine the Sauteed onions, 1/2 cup of olive oil, garlic, 1 cup pecorino, 1/2 cup parsley, and the bread crumbs and mix well. Add the remaining 1/2 cup of oil to make the bread crumbs soft. Add the raisins last. Fill the squid tubes with the mixture and secure with a toothpick at the top opening. Lay the tubes in a baking pan with a little oil in the bottom of the pan, and bake for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, remove from oven and top with tomato sauce. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup of pecorino and an additional 1/4 cup of parsley. Put pan back in the oven and bake until the cheese is melted, 10 to 15 minutes.
• In a large frying pan, mix crushed tomatoes, garlic, basil, salt, pepper and sugar. Cook for 5 minutes and set aside.

BRENDA'S REAL SICILIAN STUFFED BELL PEPPERS

Steps:

• Wash and slice off the top of the peppers, making a cap. Reserve tops. Remove internal membranes and seeds.
• Place peppers, open side up in medium roaster or deep baking dish. There must be room for the rest of the ingredients.
• Blend gently with a fork, meat, egg, breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese, green onions, 1/2 of the salt and 1/2 of the pepper or to taste.
• In bottom of pepper, place a piece of mozzarella and a few pieces of onion.
• Stuff the peppers with meat mixture and replace cap on each.
• Note: if you have extra meat you can roll them into little meat balls to place on top of peppers.
• Sprinkle the rest of the onion, potatoes, garlic, olives, mushrooms, on top of peppers. (also extra meatballs if you have any.).
• Spoon tomatoes, with thier juice, over it all.
• Season top with basil and remaining salt and pepper or to taste.
• Cover and place in 350 F oven for 45 minutes.
• Uncover and bake for another 45 minutes, keeping an eye on the liquid. You may have to add a little water if it appears to be too dry.
• Try to move the veggies away from the edges once in a while so that they don't stick to the sides.
• Plate and serve with a crusty bread.

ITALIAN BAKED STUFFED TOMATOES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 Degrees.
• Cut a slice from the top of each tomato.
• scoop out insides of tomatoes and mash with hands.
• In a skillet, heat butter and sauté onion, garlic and sausage meat until it is brown and crumbly.
• Stir in tomato pulp and simmer for ten minutes.
• Remove Sausage Mixture from pan, put into a big bowl.
• Add bread crumbs, salt, pepper, and cheese, mixing well.
• Add as much cheese as you would like.
• You may not need all the tomatoe pulp either.
• The final mixture should be kind of sticky, but easily formable.
• Place tomato shells in a shallow baking dish and fill with sausage mixture.
• Bake in for thirty minutes.
• I find that the left over sausage mixture can be put in between the tomatoes, just to bake.
• I also put grating cheese on top of the tomatoes before baking.

SCACCE RAGUSANE (SICILIAN STUFFED FLATBREAD)

Steps:

• Pour 1/3 cup warm water into a mixing bowl and sprinkle yeast over the top. Let stand for 10 to 15 minutes to make sure yeast is active.
• Add olive oil, semolina flour, and salt to the yeast mixture. Mix with your hand to form a relatively stiff ball of dough, adding more water if needed to bring the dough together.
• Transfer dough to a work surface and knead until smooth, about 5 minutes. Cover with the mixing bowl and let rest for 30 minutes.
• Uncover and knead the dough for another 3 or 4 minutes; divide dough into 2 portions, and shape each into smooth balls. Use damp hands to help smooth the dough out, if needed.
• Generously dust half of a kitchen towel with semolina flour and place the 2 balls of dough on top. Sprinkle more flour on top of the balls and cover with the other half of the towel. Leave to rise until the dough has almost doubled in size, about 2 hours.
• Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F (260 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with foil and sprinkle with cornmeal.
• Roll each ball of dough out into a very thin circle or oval shape on a lightly floured surface.
• Combine pizza sauce and basil in a bowl. Spread with a thin layer of sauce and scatter pieces of provolone cheese every few inches, leaving a 1 inch border. Fold over the opposite edges toward the middle to form a rectangle. Press lightly to flatten slightly. Repeat sauce and cheese step.
• Fold each end toward the center to make a square shape. Spread with a thin layer of sauce and scatter pieces of cheese on just one half. Fold in half, overlapping the edge by about 1 inch. Transfer to the prepared baking sheet. Repeat filling and folding the second piece of dough.
• Bake in the preheated oven until very well browned, 16 to 18 minutes. Some spots may get charred, but this is fine and desirable, since scacce are traditionally cooked in very hot wood-fired ovens. Let rest for 15 minutes before slicing and serving.