I did the best tomato
Alright, let's look at what we've got here. At first glance, it's a tomato. Harmless. Straightforward. The kind of ingredient that doesn't draw attention to itself. But that's acting. Because inside, it's carrying an entire backstory. Crab meat. Gruyère cheese. Suddenly this little tomato has depth. Motivation. Layers. Oh, that's good. The tomato is sweet and roasted, the crab is delicate, the Gruyère adds richness without taking over the scene. Nobody's chewing the scenery here. And then you've got toasted breadcrumbs. That's texture. That's confidence. That's the supporting cast showing up and doing excellent work. The basil comes in right at the end. Small role, memorable performance. This is what I like about it: it's not trying to be flashy. It's bite-sized, restrained, professional. Of course, like a lot of successful performers, it's much more complicated than it first appears. And frankly, I'd like to spend more time with the cast.
Ingredients
for 12 tomatoes
12 Campari tomatoes
5 oz crab meat
3 egg yolks
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbs fresh chopped chives
1/2 tsp lemon thyme
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp white pepper
1/2 cup grated Gruyère cheese
2 slices white bread
1 tbs butter
4-5 basil leaves
Directions
Preheat oven to 275 degrees F.
Remove the tops of the tomatoes. Remove the seeds and liquid from the tomato and remaining tomato from from the inside of the fruit, chop into a small dice to make a hollowed out tomato cup. Season the inside of the tomato with salt.
In a small bowl, combine the diced tomato, crab meat, salt, white pepper, chives, smoke paprika, lemon thyme, egg yolks, and Gruyère cheese, mix together. Stuff the tomato cups with the crab mixture
In a small food processor, chop the bread with the butter into bread crumbs. Top the tomatoes with the bread crumbs.
Place the tomatoes in a muffin tin to prevent them from rolling around and bake for 40 minutes. After 40 minutes, switch oven to broil to brown the bread crumbs, 2-3 minutes.
Chiffon the basil leaves into strands and granish the tops of the tomatoes.
Serve.