I had these campari tomatoes that I had to do something with so I thought I’d stuff them. I didn’t feel like the usual bread or rice stuffing so I stuffed them with Israeli Couscous. I like the texture of Israeli Couscous…..It almost pops in your mouth. It’s like pasta caviar. I also happened to have two extra roasted red peppers hanging around and had creamy mild (not tangy) Feta Cheese in my refrigerator so the recipe pretty much happened by it’s self. I do note that due to the size of your tomatoes you might have slightly extra or not enough filling. I had 16 tomatoes that weighed two pounds. I think for this recipe you will want to use small tomatoes that are campari sized. I also (before I hollowed them out.) made slightly more harissa vinaigrette than I needed…maybe a 1/3 of a cup extra.  But this harissa vinaigrette is pretty darn amazing. You will want to use it on eggs or slather it on bread maybe with some creamy mild feta cheese, or just use it over grilled meat that you might want to serve with these tomatoes. This dish can be served at room temperature or slightly warmed up.

Ingredients for about 4 servings

2 lbs campari tomatoes about (16 tomatoes) ((The campari tomato is a small sweet tomato but bigger than a cherry tomato) – slice the top off and hollow them out really well with a teaspoon

2 red bell peppers – roasted with stems, seeds, skin removed and rough chopped and include any roasted pepper juices

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon caraway seeds

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

3 garlic cloves – grated

1 hot pepper – chopped fine ( I used a fried reddish serano pepper – chopped) ((I suggest to use any hot pepper you like and to use it to taste because they all run hotter sometimes than other times…you might want more or much less pepper))

1 lemon – just the fresh squeezed juice

2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar

2 Tablespoons tomato paste

fresh ground sea salt to taste

fresh ground black pepper to taste

1/2 cup Israeli Couscous (I like the Tri Color one)

1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

3/4 cup  vegetable stock

3 oz feta cheese – preferably the mild creamy kind without a strong tang or substitute a creamy goat cheese – crumbled

2 Tablespoons fresh parsley – chopped

Directions

Add one tablespoon olive oil to a small pot on medium high heat. Add the couscous and fry it a couple minutes or till slightly toasted. Add the vegetable broth and lightly cover and reduce to simmer. Cook till couscous is tender. (about ten minutes) Fluff couscous and set to the side.

In a small blender or with a blending wand blend up the roasted red peppers, cumin, caraway, 2 Tablespoon olive oil, garlic cloves, hot pepper, lemon juice, red wine vinegar, tomato paste. Blend till smooth. Add fresh ground sea salt and black pepper to taste.

Add at least half of the harissa vinaigrette to the couscous and mix well. Now add in the feta and parsley.

Scoop out the tomatoes really well if you didn’t already. (you want them to be like shells)

By now the couscous absorbed the harissa and you need to add more or it will be dry.

Stuff the tomatoes and serve at either room temperature or warmed up.

Tasty and different! Not the same old stuff! You will be pleasantly surprised! When I served these at dinner my husband made a face…..”what’s that?” I told him and then after he ate them he said, “you know that was really very good!”