Originally published on October 27, 2016
These delicious little stuffed tomato nuggets were whipped up as a quick appetizer on an episode of Dinner Party Wars, a show that’s was aired on the Food Network until recently. Shocked that the hosts didn’t have anything for their guests to nibble on as soon as they walked through the door, Chef Corbin suggested that they take little tomatoes, stuff ‘em with goat cheese mixed with chopped herbs, and set them out for their guests to enjoy. After that, I couldn’t stop thinking about them! I had to try them for myself, and my girls and I gobbled up all two dozen of them in about an hour.
When scooping out the tomatoes, I suggest using the end of the smallest teaspoon you can find. This will help scrape the seeds out rather than scoop, which can break the skin of the tomato and cause it to break apart. And if your cherry tomatoes have little white walls inside them like mine did, the end of the spoon can also be used to just break that down slightly and scrape that out, too.
Ingredients:
- 24 cherry tomatoes
- 1 head of garlic
- 1 cup goat cheese
- 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme, chopped
- 1 tablespoon chives, chopped
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- Salt
- Pepper
Directions:
1.) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Slice off just the top of the head of garlic and remove any loose papery skins (but no need to peel it completely). Sit the garlic in a small baking dish, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. When oven is preheated, place the garlic in and roast for 30 – 45 minutes, until the garlic cloves are soft and slightly browned.
2.) When garlic is cool enough to handle, squeeze the roasted garlic cloves out into a small bowl. To the garlic add the goat cheese, herbs, and a touch of salt and pepper. Mix to incorporate all ingredients, taste, and then adjust seasoning if needed.
3.) Slice just the tops off the cherry tomatoes. Using a spoon, scoop out the seeds of each tomato and remove any fleshy walls. As you remove the seeds from the tomatoes, place the tomatoes upside down on a paper towel. Let sit and drain for 10 minutes.
4.) Sit cherry tomatoes upright and sprinkle a little bit of salt and pepper inside each. Using the same thin handle of the spoon, scoop a little bit of the cheese mixture into each, making sure that the stuffing sits slightly above the top of the tomato.
5.) Place stuffed tomatoes on parsley or other herbs (it will help keep them upright) and serve and enjoy!