Le Chef's Kitchen

It’s summertime, so grilling season is upon us.  This recipe harkens back to my days as my fraternity’s “Grillmeister”.  It was handed down to me by the presiding Grillmeister, a Southern gentleman named Ben Patch.  Ben taught me many things, including how to make my own barbecue sauce from scratch.  Being appointed as Grillmeister gave me the perfect opportunity to elevate the fraternity barbecue from burgers and dogs to something more interesting.  During the two years of my tenure, I cooked whole sides of marinated swordfish,  grilled New Zealand mussels,  smoked pork shoulders cooked in pits dug in the front yard (with considerable help and inspiration provided by Mr. David Weiss, who is a frequent reader of this blog, and a great cook himself), roasted Thanksgiving turkey on a tripod, and every manner of side dish we could think of.  These grilled stuffed tomatoes have become a favorite, because they are so incredibly easy, and the “wow” factor is a great bang for your buck in terms of prep time.  Over the years I’ve realized that if you have an oven at your disposal (which I did not in college) it’s easier to make these in muffin tins and bake them.  If you’re grilling them it can be tricky to keep them from falling over, so you need to make little tinfoil “life preservers” to keep them standing upright.  Roll a 1-ft long piece of tinfoil into a cylinder and form a ring.  Place the ring on the grill and the tomato on the ring, and proceed from there.

These take about 5 minutes to prep, and will cook in the oven in about 20 minutes.  Time them to be done with the rest of your meal, and you’ve got an easy, tasty side dish.

Gorgonzola Stuffed Tomatoes (serves 6)

Ingredients:

• 6 on the vine tomatoes
• 1 bunch scallions, chopped
• 6 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled
• 1/2 lb gorgonzola, crumbled (I usually buy 1 container of pre-crumbled gorgonzola)
• salt and pepper

Procedure:

Prep the tomatoes by cutting around the tops of each tomato, with a slight downward angle, and pulling off the top.  Using your fingers, reach in and remove the seeds and pulp to create a hollow tomato that will hold your cheese.

Sprinkle a few scallions and some bacon bits into the bottom of each tomato, and then pack the remaining hollow with gorgonzola.  Sprinkle remaining scallions and bacon bits on top of the tomatoes, and season with salt and pepper.

Bake in a 350 degree oven until cheese is bubbling, about 15-20 minutes.  If grilling, place tomatoes on a grill (using the tinfoil “life rings” described above) and grill with the cover down until cheese is bubbling.

Enjoy!