Serves: 4 Preparation time: 20 minutes Cooking time: 25 minutes

Tomatoes will be here shortly.  Although they are best eaten raw, fresh from the garden, they are pretty good when they are used to hold something else--like garden fresh spinach and cheese.

• 4 medium tomatoes (about fist-sized, unless you’re a boxer)
• 1 pound fresh spinach chopped
• 1 cup ricotta cheese
• ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
• ¼ cup onion, chopped
• 2 tablespoons fine dry bread crumbs
• 1 tablespoon fresh oregano or 1 teaspoon dried

Rinse the spinach with cold water under the faucet. Coat the bottom of a large skillet with olive oil to prevent sticking. Cook the spinach for two to three minutes until wilted, then drain.  Put the spinach onto a square of paper towel and squeeze out most of the moisture. Preheat oven to 425°F.  Cut the top off of each tomato and scoop out the pulp leaving the skin intact.  Put the pulp in a colander to drain. Combine onion, drained tomato pulp and spinach in a saucepan.  Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Add in the ricotta, about half or ¼ cup of the Parmesan cheese, the breadcrumbs and spices, and mix thoroughly. Divide the mixture among the tomatoes and sprinkle them with remaining ¼ cup Parmesan.  Arrange tomatoes on a parchment lined cookie sheet or baking dish sprayed with vegetable spray and bake for 25 minutes. Garnish with parsley sprigs if you like and serve.