A cute side-dish for two or when you make more, Tomatoes stuffed with Pastina can serve as finger food at your next party. It’s very easy to make and delicious.
This recipe is a delightful blend of flavors and textures. The juicy, sweet tomatoes serve as a perfect vessel for the tiny pasta pearls. The addition of sauteed onions and pesto sauce add another layer of flavor, while the melted Raclette cheese give a feeling of comfort. Overall, this dish is comforting yet sophisticated, making it a lovely option for many occasions.
Key Ingredients in This Recipe
You’ll find the complete list of ingredients and exact quantities in the recipe below.
- Tomatoes – Quantity depends on size. I have used small tomatoes (diameter 2 inches). As a side-dish, I believe it looks nicer when they are small, rather than 1 large tomato.
- Pastina – I’ve used acini di peper, but other small pasta shapes will do as well, like stelline or orzo. If you make this recipe with larger tomatoes, you could even use ditalini (often used in minestrone soup).
- Onion – shallot in this case, but other onions will do as well.
- Marinara sauce – store-bought or home-made.
- Pesto – store-bought or home-made.
- Parsley – basil will work as well.
- Cheese – pick a melting cheese with flavor, like Fontina val d’Aosta, Raclette, Gruyere.
How to Make Tomatoes Stuffed with Pastina
Step 1 – Slice the top off the tomatoes and hollow them out, using a spoon. Place them upside-down on a kitchen towel to make use that all liquid is out.
Place tomatoes in a baking dish, sprinkle with salt and pepper and place 1/3 of the cheese in each tomato.
Step 2 – Cook the pastina according to the direction on the packaging.
At the same time saute the shallot in a skillet and add the marinara sauce and pesto and warm. When pasta is cooked and drained add this as well.
Step 3 – Add parsley and 1/3 of the cheese and taste. Add salt & pepper if needed.
Step 4 – Fill each tomato with the pastina mixture. You may have some left-over which you can use when serving the tomatoes.
Step 5 – Divide rest of cheese over the 6 tomatoes and place dish in an oven. Bake for 10-15 minutes.
Serve and enjoy!
Three small tomatoes is about as much as 1 traditional sized tomato. Place the tomatoes on a small bed of the pastina mixture you made. This way the tomatoes have a solid footing and won’t roll away.
Alternative or Substitutes
- Pastina – instead of pasta, you can use couscous, rice, or other grains like farro, barley
- Meat – you could add some ground beef, ground turkey or chicken. You may need to lower the volume of other ingredients to make sure it fits in the tomatoes.
- Cheese – alternative of a melting cheese could be goat cheese or feta. Of course Mozzarella can work as well but does not add much flavor.
- Garlic – always a nice addition.
Other Recipe to Try
- Lamb & Barley Stuffed Eggplant
- Stuffed Bell Peppers Sunny Side Up
- Egg-free Zucchini Carbonara
- Classic Beef Stuffed Peppers
Tomatoes Stuffed with Pastina
Ingredients
- 6 small grape tomatoes (NOTE 1) about 2-inch diameter
- 1/2 tablespoon butter
- 1 shallot finely chopped
- 1/4 cup acini di pepe
- 1/3 cup marinara sauce
- 3 ounces Raclette cheese
- 1 teaspoon basil pesto
- 1 tablespoon parsley finely chopped
Instructions
- Slice the top off the tomatoes and hollow them out, using a spoon. Place them upside-down on a kitchen towel to make use that all liquid is out.
- Place tomatoes in a baking dish, sprinkle with salt and pepper and place 1/3 of the cheese in each tomato.
- Cook the pastina according to the direction on the packaging.
- At the same time saute the shallot in a skillet and add the marinara sauce, pesto.
- When pastina is done and drained, add to skillet.
- Add parsley and 1/3 of the cheese and taste. Add salt & pepper if needed.
- Fill each tomato with the pastina mixture. You may have some left-over which you can use when serving the tomatoes.
- Divide rest of cheese over the 6 tomatoes and place dish in a 400 degrees F oven. Bake for 10-15 minutes. Cheese will be melted and pastina mixture should be hot.
- Place remaining pastina mixture in a bowl and place tomatoes on top of this and serve.
Notes
- I used small grape tomatoes as a few on your place looks nice than just 1 larger tomato. Please note that oven time may be more when tomato is larger.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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