Baked Tomatoes with Pesto Over Mixed Green Salad
This recipe is based on my husband’s grandmother’s recipe and is a great first course or a light lunch.
Baked Tomatoes with Pesto Over Mixed Green Salad
3 tablespoons of olive oil
4 medium rip tomatoes
4 tablespoons of pesto, store bought, see the below recipe or Beet top pesto
1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese, grated
4 cups of mixed green salad, your favorite or see my recipe below
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Pick a casserole dish that will fit the four tomatoes and drizzle with half of the olive oil. Cut the tops of the tomatoes off and scoop out the inside of the tomatoes. Dice the tops, mix all the tomatoes with half of the pesto and cheese salt and pepper to taste. Stuff the mixture back inside the tomatoes and place in the casserole dish. Top each tomato with the remaining pesto and then the cheese. Drizzle with the remaining olive oil and place in the oven and bake for 15 to 20 until the cheese is starting to brown.
Dress the salad and place on the plate topping with a tomato.
Pesto
2 cups of sweet basil
2 tablespoons of pine nuts
3 cloves of garlic
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of pepper
1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese, grated
3/4 cup of olive oil
Add all of the ingredients to a food processor and blend until combined. if to dry you can add more olive oil to the mixture. Use immediately or store in an air tight container in the refrigerator for up to a week.
Mixed Green Salad with Dressing
1 cup of green lettuce
1 cup of red lettuce
1 cup of spinach
1 cup of baby kale
1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese, grated
2 tablespoons of olive oil
2 tablespoons of lemon juice
Mix together all of the greens and cheese in a bowl. Whisk together the olive oil and lemon juice with salt and pepper to taste. Drizzle the desired amount of dressing to coat the greens, plate and serve.
