ROASTED GARLIC & GREEN ONION FILLED CHERRY TOMATOES

Submitted by CoCaShe

"I found several stuffed tomato recipes online and mixed-and-matched a bit to make this one for Thanksgiving 2015. In general it's pretty easy, but be careful with the tomatoes. I used cocktail (a bit larger than cherry tomatoes), cut the thinnest of slips in the bottom to make them stand up; I cut off the tops and used a paring knife to loosen the membrane, then picked out the insides with my finger. I prepared the tomatoes and the cheese filling the night before and left them in the fridge overnight, filling in the morning with a piping bag. I left the cooking time out as this recipe could be done with out the roasted garlic, depending on the time you have and flavors you want."

 

• Ready In: 20mins
• Ingredients: 8
• Yields: 25 stuffed tomatoes

ingredients

• 1 head garlic
• olive oil
• salt and pepper
• 25 cocktail tomatoes
• 300 g oz cream cheese, softened
• green onions or chives
• 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice (to taste)
• chives, sweet paprika for garnish (optional)

directions

1. Remove outer husk of garlic head, cut off top with stem so that tops of bulbs are exposed. Place on aluminum foil, drizzle with olive oil and salt and pepper. Close aluminum foil packet and place in 325F preheated oven for 45-60 minute When bulb is soft, remove from oven and allow to cool.
2. Wash tomatoes. Cut a tiny sliver off of the bottom of each one, just to ensure they stand up (be careful not to pierce the tomato). Cut off top of each tomato and clean out insides. If you have time you can sprinkle the insides with salt and place upside down on a rack to drain, but it's not necessary.
3. In a bowl, combine cream cheese, green onions or chives (or any other herb that goes well with roasted garlic) and lemon juice. Take roasted heaad of garlic and squeeze paste from bulbs directly into bowl. Mix well (I use the whisk attachment on a stand mixer, gets it blended nicely in no time).
4. Use the piping bag to fill each tomato. Garnish as desired (sweet paprika and chives shown in picture). Note: if storing overnight in fridge, you may want to remove the cheese a few minutes before filling the tomatoes to soften it up and make it easier to squeeze out with the piping bag; however, I found that there was still a lot of condensation which dripped on the plate and tomato, so I wrapped a paper towel around the tip to catch any dripping.