For the love of tomatoes

I've been thinking a lot about tomatoes lately. I know that sounds strange in the dead of winter, especially since we live in sub-zero conditions, but I have, and I'll explain why.

The novel I've been working on is titled In the Field of Tomatoes, and as I mentioned before, it takes place in my mother's hometown in southern Italy, Salandra. The town was primarily a farming town in the early 20th century ( when my novel takes place) and I set the entire novel either in town, or in the tomato fields around the town.

I've been hard at work revising the novel and, one of my goals for the early part of this year is to start sending it out to agents and ( cross your fingers people!) sell it. So, you see my preoccupation with tomatoes now huh?When I got home from work tonight, I barely had enough time to cook, let alone revise anything before dinner, so I used the one hour that I had to brainstorm about chapter 9 and make these stuffed tomatoes.

They were the perfect side-dish to the herb frittata that we ate for dinner, and even if you don't have tomatoes on your brain, one taste of these and you'll be thinking about them too.

Pomodori al Forno ( Baked tomatoes)

6 medium Roma tomatoes
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup plain breadcrumbs
2 teaspoons parsley, chopped
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons pecorino romano cheese ( optional)
salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Cut tomatoes in half lengthwise and remove the seeds. Place on baking sheet or casserole dish. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
3. Combine breadcrumbs, parsley, garlic powder and cheese in a small bowl.
4. Fill the tomato halves with the breadcrumb mixture.
5. Drizzle olive oil on top of tomatoes.
6. Bake for 30 minutes.