Baked Tomatoes Stuffed with Salmon, Garlic and Capers

Tonight, with temperatures dropping into the '30s, I'm taking a departure from Mexican and turning to Marcella Hazan for a little Italian-style comfort food. While I'm still waiting to get my hands on Hazan's more famous Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking, I've found some pretty yummy-looking dishes in her more recent cookbook, Marcella Cucina ("Marcella cooks").

As an appetizer, Hazan's recipe for salmon-stuffed baked tomatoes, accompanied by a full-page, mouth-watering color photo of the finished product, immediately caught my eye. When one of the cooks caught me staring off into space during work this morning, asking me if I was "on the moon," I was in fact dreaming of this dish. Needless to say, I'm excited. And hungry.

Baked Tomatoes Stuffed with Salmon, Garlic and Capers

1 tbsp capers, packed in salted
1 lb. salmon
3 1/2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp. chopped Italian flat-leaf parsley
1 tsp. very finely chopped garlic
2 tbsp. fine, dry, unflavored bread crumbs
salt
black pepper
two large ripe, firm tomatoes, weighing approximately 3/4 lb. each

Found me a couple fat tomatoes at the store. Halved each horizontally, scooped out the insides, and stuffed with this tantalizing salmon mixture: salmon, garlic, Italian flat-leaf parsley, capers, olive oil, plain breadcrumbs, salt and pepper. The cats were veeeery interested in the salmon.

Bongo and Poppy: "Feed us!!!"

Before popping in the oven, my tomatoes looked like this:

Before

Then after, like this:

Mouthgasms

These are both impressive and delicious! The tomato really picks up the flavors of the salmon mixture, and the salmon mixture itself is just.... mmmmm. Considering how gourmet these little guys turn out, the work you put in is negligible. Great freakin' recipe! I could see this being the kind of thing you'd want to make for your mother-in-law to win her over to your cause.

- Little Chef TX