Baked tomatoes stuffed with leeks

Yield: 6 Servings

Ingredients:

6 md Tomatoes
1 lg Or 2 small leeks
4 tb Olive oil Salt & pepper Tabasco sauce
6 tb Dry bread crumbs
3 ts Olive oil
3 tb Chopped parsley

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400 F. Grease a shallow baking dish or pan large enough to hold the 6 tomatoes. Wash tomatoes and cut off stem end (not too close). Using a teaspoon scoop out seeds and pulp and discard. Turn tomatoes upside down on paper towels to drain and place in baking dish. Wash leeks very thoroughly and pat dry. Cut away the tough green tips. Lay the leek pieces flat on a cutting board and slice crosswise very fine. Heat the 4 tablespoons butter in a saute' pan add leeks and cook until soft (do not overcook). Season with salt pepper and Tabasco. Spoon 1/6 of the cooked leeks into each tomato then a tablespoon of breadcrumbs over them. Place a 1/2 ts olive oil on top of each tomato. Lower oven temperature to 350 F and bake for 12 minutes. Sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve. Adapted from Pearl Byrd Foster Classic American Cooking posted by Jeff Pruett