Pesto Rice Stuffed Tomatoes

Have you had stuffed tomatoes? Aren't they so good?! It's such a great way to keep enjoying tomatoes as summer becomes less about burgers and barbecues and starts looking towards crisp fall air and warm soups and casseroles. Not yet though! I'm not really ever ready to say goodbye to summer, but definitely not this early. Summer runs late here in Seattle, and sometimes our warmest, sunniest days are in September. That means still plenty of barbecues and camping for me! Yay!
Speaking of camping, I actually took these stuffed tomatoes on my last trip. I wanted a starch/grain to go with dinner that wasn't potatoes (I usually eat those with my eggs for breakfast, and twice in one day is a bit much). Brown rice is a wholesome option that goes great with the salmon I was going to grill, but cooking rice while camping just isn't how I like to spend my evening - especially brown rice, with its long simmer time.
That's when I started to think about stuffed tomatoes - what a great way to bring brown rice camping! I mean, it's totally prepared in its own edible packaging; all I would need to do was heat and serve. Genius! I wrapped them in foil and put them to the side of the grill while the salmon was cooking. I had a delicious campfire meal, without having to get up too often from that campfire!

I started by cutting the tops off of 2 large "on the vine" tomatoes.

I scooped out the pulpy insides...

...and then sprinkled a little salt into them before turning upside down on a rack. I let them sit for an hour or so to let any extra moisture drip out.

Stuff the tomatoes with a mixture of rice, pesto and mozzarella cheese and top with some parmesan. Bake for about 20 minutes.

Enjoy immediately (I drizzled a balsamic reduction over mine) or allow to cool and pack them up for a great side dish on the go!

Pesto Rice Stuffed Tomatoes
2 large on the vine tomatoes
1 c cooked rice
1/4 c shredded mozzarella
3 T pesto
2 T parmesan
salt

-Preheat oven to 375.
-Cut the tops off of the tomatoes and scoop out the insides.
-Sprinkle salt into the tomatoes and invert onto a wire rack; let sit for about an hour to allow any remaining liquid to drain out.
-Combine rice, mozzarella and pesto; fill tomatoes with mixture.
-Top with parmesan and bake for 20 minutes.