TOMATO PUDDING

This is one of my favorite ways to serve tomatoes. The dish is appropirate in the summer, with sweet corn and grilled chicken and just as comfortable in the dead of winter (like now) with a pork roast and green beans with shallots in a mustard sauce. Several of my guests who've enjoyed this at one of my dinners have asked me for the recipe and after serving it themselves, report rave reviews. This is very easy to make and can be held, if necessary, or allowed to cool and reheated in a microwave or oven at the last minute.

TOMATO PUDDING

serves 9-12



12 slices bacon, cut into small pieces

3 28-oz cans diced tomatoes

2 onions, finely chopped

3 red bell peppers, finely chopped

2 T brown sugar, light, or dark, whatever you have

1 package Pepperidge farm stuffing (bread crumbs)

1. Saute bacon until crisp in a deep skillet or Dutch oven. Drain and crumble, reserving bacon fat.

2. In 2 tablesppons of the bacon fat, saute onions and red peppers until soft. Add tomatoes, brown sugar and bacon and saute mixture over very low heat for several hours until the mixture turns deep in color and thickens. Tomato pudding can be cooked to this point and reserved, either at room temperature or chilled, depending on length of time. If chilled, bring back to room temperature before proceeding.

3. When ready to serve, put mixture in a deep casserole dish, cover top with stuffing and bake in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes.