Grandma Roasted Tomatoes with Rice and Potatoes. Simply the best!

Grandma Roasted Tomatoes with Rice and Potatoes are a staple at an Italian table whenever gorgeous sun ripened tomatoes are available. It’s such an easy and delicious recipe that brings back so many summer memories!

This recipe is great for the whole family, babies included! Scoop out one tablespoon of soft rice all together with three potato wedges and place them on a baby plate, your little one will enjoy every single bite. Potato wedges are also a great baby led weaning food.

READY TO COOK?

Wash the tomatoes and slice the top part, half an inch thickness and set aside. Scoop the pulp out with a teaspoon. Keep the pulp and place in a bowl, discard the seeds. Place the tomato shells in a large baking dish, season with sea salt inside. Using an immersion blender, transform the tomato pulp into a puree. Remove 1/4 of the puree and set aside.

Add the minced basil, parsley and garlic to the remaining tomato puree. Add the rice too. Season with sea salt and olive oil. Mix and set aside. Peel the potatoes and cut in wedges. Season with oregano, salt and olive oil. Add the potatoes all around the tomato shells. Fill the tomato shells with the rice mix. Cover with the tomato tops you set aside at the beginning. Drizzle on top of the potatoes 6/8 tablespoons of the tomato sauce you saved before. Drizzle with olive oil. Cover the tomatoes with a parchment paper foil wet with water. Bake in a preheated oven to 400 for 30 minutes. Remove the parchment paper and keep baking for another 20/30 minutes until the potatoes will be nicely golden and tender. Enjoy!!

Few questions you might have…

WHICH KIND OF RICE TO USE?

I would suggest using short grain rice, but I also tried Carnaroli/Arborio (the variety used for risotto) and works very well. You want to use a starchy rice. No need to rinse the rice before.

WHAT CAN I DO WITH THE REMAINING TOMATO PUREE?

If you use all the tomato puree from the inner pulp of the tomatoes you will end up having a very liquid rice mix that will end up in mushy rice. That’s why you need to remove 1/4 of the sauce (a bit more than 1/2 cup). You can use the fresh tomato cream for many other recipes. Few ideas for you:

• cook some meatballs in the tomato sauce
• add a pinch of salt, a drizzle of olive oil and serve it to your kids with a celery stick as a spoon

CAN I FREEZE THE LEFTOVERS?

Well, this is not a recipe ideal for freezing considering the texture of the cooked ingredients. You can definitely store the leftovers in the refrigerator instead for up to 5 days. To reheat it, microwave in the oven if a small portion or reheat in the oven if you have a large quantity.

CAN I PREPARE THIS RECIPE AHEAD?

Yess! Sometimes I prepare this recipe one day before. It tastes even better 🙂