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Salvatore Pepe’s Pomodori ripieni

Feb 09, 2015

Chef Salvatore Pepe was born in Calabria, southern Italy, and was nurtured by the fresh produce and distinctive flavours of the local cuisine.

His professional journey brought him to Adelaide in 1996 to open his own restaurant, Cibo,  which expanded to include a chain of Italian espresso bars.

Pepe has led guided culinary tours of Italy, published a cookbook of his favourite recipes, and each year returns to Italy to seek inspiration and new flavours to bring home to Adelaide.

Here, he shares his recipe for a classic Italian tomato dish, perfect for using the end-of-season abundance of ripe tomatoes.

Pomodori ripieni (Stuffed tomatoes)

Ingredients

4 large ripe tomatoes
200g fregola (Sardinian cous cous, available at Italian grocers and good supermarkets)
Extra virgin olive oil
1 small red onion, finely chopped
6 fresh basil leaves, shredded
1 pinch dry oregano
70g parmigiano, grated
salt to taste
1 tsp rock salt
1 egg

Method

Bring a litre of water to boil, add rock salt and cook fregola for 10 minutes until al dente. Strain, place in a large bowl and drizzle with 2 to 3 tablespoons of olive oil.

Wash and halve tomatoes, separating top from bottom, and spoon out all the seeds.

Heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a frying pan and cook until soft. Add to the bowl with ¾ of the  parmigiano, the basil, the oregano and the egg. Mix well to create a stuffing mixture.

Sprinkle tomato halves with a good pinch of salt and fill with stuffing mixture, place in baking dish, top with remaining cheese, drizzle with a generous amount of olive oil and bake in a pre-heated oven at 220C for 8 minutes or until golden on top.

Allow to cool  for about 10 minutes before serving.

Serves 4

 

 

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