Tomatoes Stuffed With Pasta Salad

Vegetarian and French, practically a contradiction in terms! Well, I actually discovered, when I opened the newspaper to the food section this morning, that there actually are recipes like that out there! This is a recipe from La Zucca Magica in Nice, France. Brought to us by Mark Bittman, the minimalist.

• Ready In: 45 mins
• Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 4  large tomatoes
•  salt & freshly ground black pepper
• 1  yellow pepper, minced
• 2  tablespoons olive oil
• 2  garlic cloves, minced
• 1⁄4 lb spaghetti (scant)
• 3  tablespoons nicoise olives, pitted and chopped
• 1  tablespoon capers (rinsed with warm water if salt-packed)
• 12  basil leaves, chopped
• 2 -3  marjoram leaves (or a pinch of dried) or 2 -3  oregano leaves (or a pinch of dried)
• 1⁄2 lb fresh mozzarella cheese, chopped

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Remove top third of each tomato. Scoop out some flesh and chop it, along with the top third. Salt inside of tomatoes and turn them upside down as you procede.
2. Cook yellow pepper in a tablespoon of oil with half the garlic, until soft. Break spaghetti into little bits and cook in salted boiling water just until tender. Drain and rinse in cold water.
3. Mix together the chopped tomato, cooked pepper, spaghetti and all other ingredients except mozzarella. Stuff tomatoes, first with cheese, then with tomato mixture. Put in a lightly oiled baking dish and bake for about 15 minutes, or until hot. Serve hot or warm.