Stuffed tomatoes are a lovely, light entree for the summer season. Most stuffed tomato recipes include bread, making them off limits for those avoiding gluten. In this variation, I use quinoa as a healthy protein-infused stuffing. Goat cheese and basil pesto pack a flavor punch. These Quinoa Stuffed Tomatoes with Pesto and Goat Cheese are gluten free, filling, healthy, and delicious! It’s a vegetarian entree I look forward to enjoying each summer.
I’ve tried many stuffed tomato recipes in the past, but none of them have really knocked my socks off. Many of the stuffing mixtures seem bland and turn out somewhat dry after baking. Also, I hate throwing away the inner seeds and gel of the fruit. It seems a waste, but most recipes don’t call for including the seeds in the stuffing.
I solved the problem in my recipe by using a wire mesh sieve and spoon to extract the flavorful juicy liquid from the tomato seeds. I used that liquid to cook the quinoa, along with crushed garlic, which infused it with a wonderful flavor. After that, I mixed the cooked quinoa with fresh basil, pesto and parmesan, which made it moist and gave it a terrific herby, cheesy flavor. I topped each tomato with a dollop of pesto and a tablespoon of goat cheese. The tomatoes baked up to warm, gooey perfection– a perfectly satisfying meal when paired with a side salad.
You can use pesto from a jar, or make it fresh using one of my homemade pesto recipes. If you’re a vegetarian, make sure your parmesan is made with a vegetarian rennet. Enjoy!
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Beauty Shot Food Photography and Styling by Kelly Jaggers
Quinoa Stuffed Tomatoes with Pesto and Goat Cheese
Ingredients
- 6 tomatoes (7-8 oz each)
- 1/2 cup quinoa
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed garlic
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 tablespoons + 4 1/2 teaspoon pesto, divided
- 2 tablespoons grated parmesan
- 1/2 tablespoons minced fresh basil
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 4 ounces goat cheese
- Whole fresh basil leaves for garnish (optional)
NOTES
Instructions
- Slice the very tops of the tomatoes off (where the stems are) and remove the caps.
- Use a knife to cut around the inside and remove the inner core and seeds from the tomatoes, leaving the walls intact.
- Scoop any remaining seeds out of the tomatoes with a small spoon (I use a metal 1/2 teaspoon). Pour all of the gel, seeds, and pulp into a medium bowl.
- Reserve the cored tomatoes.
- Use a spoon to push the gel, seeds, and pulp through the wire mesh sieve, releasing their juice into another bowl. Press down on the solid ingredients and agitate the mixture to extract as much juice as possible. You will need to do this in batches; when one batch is juiced, scoop the solids into the trash and start on the next batch.
- Pour the tomato juice into a measuring cup. You will need 1 cup of liquid total. If the tomato juice does not make a full cup, top it off with water.
- Pour the juice (and water, if you added any) into a small saucepan.
- Rinse the tomato pulp out of the mesh sieve. Pour the dry quinoa into the sieve and rinse it with cold water for a few minutes. Drain.
- Pour the quinoa into the saucepan with the tomato liquid. Add the crushed garlic to the pan.
- Bring all ingredients to a boil. Reduce heat to a low simmer and cover the pan. Simmer the ingredients for about 20 minutes till all of the liquid is absorbed and the quinoa is tender. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- While quinoa is cooking, grease the bottom and edges of your cooking pan or dish with olive oil. Lightly brush the outside of each tomato with olive oil and place them into the baking dish.
- When quinoa is finished cooking, remove the lid and fluff it with a fork.
- Use the fork to stir in 2 tbsp of pesto along with the grated parmesan and fresh basil. Season the quinoa with salt and pepper to taste.
- Divide the quinoa evenly between the six tomatoes, stuffing each one loosely with the mixture.
- Top each tomato with 3/4 tsp of pesto...
- then top each portion of pesto with 1 tbsp of goat cheese.
- Place the tomatoes into preheated oven. Let them cook for 20-25 minutes till the tomatoes are tender and the goat cheese starts to brown at the tips.
- Serve hot. Garnish with fresh basil leaves, if desired.
Nutrition
What kind of quinoa do you typically use for this recipe? I see all different varieties at the store now and it gets me confused!
Hi Hannah! Regular white quinoa will work best for this recipe. Red and black will give a different flavor; the white is softer and has a more neutral flavor, which allows it to soak in the pesto and tomato flavors better than the other varieties. The red quinoa is more solid and better to suited to salads, while the black has a slightly sweeter and more distinct flavor. Don’t forget to rinse the quinoa before cooking. Enjoy!
Wondering if you can make these ahead of time and pop them in oven before serving?
a day ahead……?
I made these last night and loved them. I had a bit of a problem in that 2 of the tomatoes split as I tried to serve them, so they didn’t look very nice, but they tasted great.
How to make home made nachoes?
This may have to be one the last things I make in my current tiny kitchen- though I may have to mix a little sausage into the quinoa in my husband’s, he seems to be adverse to most meals that don’t include meat (think of Aunt Toula in Big Fat Greek Wedding- that’s his mom)
We went to San Diego for the last part of our honeymoon last August- there’s a great little Italian place in the gaslamp district- OperaCaffe- that ranked up there with James Beard winner prepared meals we had on other legs of the trip.
I am SO excited to make these!
As soon as the tomatoes ripen this is dinner!! It would be great for Sukkot, too!
San Diego is a great city! Being a South Florida girl, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t be getting in the chilly Pacific water. Aside from that…(I don’t have a segway) Most stuffed tomatoes are raw, roasting the tomatoes gives them an added sweetness, sound great!
This looks awesome!I love all of the ingredients…Dinnah tomorrow night! Thank you
Can’t wait to try it! Looks great, and love the use of quinoa as the stuffing.
We made a similar mistake a few years back when taking a trip to San Francisco in August. Apparently there’s a saying, “The coldest winter I ever knew was August in San Francisco…”
🙂