Tomatoes Stuffed with Bacon and Corn Bread

     Today I hit the Jackpot.  I found these beautifully ripe and large tomatoes on the reduced produce rack at the grocery store and wondered how I could put them to good use.  I found this fantastic recipe for stuffed tomatoes from Home Plate Cooking by Marvin Woods and Virginia Willis.  It uses all my favorite ingredients, mayonnaise, bacon, cornbread and Parmesan cheese.  I thought the recipe looked delicious but little did I know how amazingly good these would turn out to be.  If you don't have a grapefruit spoon to remove the pulp from the tomatoes use your kitchen shears, it makes the job a lot easier.  I used two big corn muffins for the stuffing and snipped a little fresh thyme from the garden.  They baked in 25 minutes in my 10 inch oven with 12 coals on the bottom and 20-22 on the lid.  Honestly, these tomatoes are out of this world.  A great first course or make a whole meal out of them, they are that rich and filling.  File this recipe away for when you have a bumper crop of tomatoes from your garden or some leftover corn bread in the house, it's a winner! 

Tomatoes Stuffed With Bacon and Corn Bread
4 large ripe tomatoes
2 cups crumbled corn bread
1/2 cup mayonnaise
6 slices bacon, cooked until crisp and crumbled
2 scallions, chopped
2 sprigs fresh thyme leaves, chopped or 1/4 tsp of dried thyme
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
Grated Parmesan cheese

     Lightly oil or spray a 10 or 12 inch regular dutch oven.
     Halve the tomatoes horizontally with a serrated knife.  Using a spoon, carefully scoop out the pulp; chop, drain and set aside.
     Combine the tomato pulp, corn bread, mayonnaise, bacon, scallions, and thyme in a medium bowl.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.
     Spoon the corn bread mixture into the tomato shells.  Transfer the stuffed tomatoes to a prepared dutch oven.  Top with Parmesan cheese.  Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until filling is brown and bubbling. Serve warm.

Stuff tomatoes and top with grated Parmesan

After 25 minutes in a hot oven, brown and bubbling

These are definitely addicting