It’s in the air.

You can smell it.

You can feel it.

Fall is coming.

There’s that hint of a chill when the sun goes down that has me grasping at summer.

And to me, summer is a bowl of peaches and some ripe juicy Jersey tomatoes. While I would be satisfied with peaches for dinner, I know my fiance would not.

So I turned to Giada DeLaurentiis’s cookbook and found a lovely recipe for tomatoes stuffed with rice.

I used my creative license and switched out the rice for couscous and so was born Caprese Couscous Stuffed Tomatoes!

One of the best things at an Italian restaurant in the summer is a caprese salad with ripe, bright red tomatoes and fresh mozzarella.

I took that concept and, instead of layering it nicely on a plate, decided to stuff it into a tomato.

For this recipe you will need

• Tomatoes (I did 2 per person plus one extra as a lunch for someone the next day)
• Couscous (I used the quick cook kind because, well, who wants to use long cook couscous?)
• Basil
• Mozzarella
• Black pepper
• olive oil

Preheat the oven to 350.

Prepare the couscous according to the package directions and set aside in a bowl.

Cut the tops off of the tomatoes.

Run your knife carefully along the edge of the tomatoes and then use a spoon to scoop out the insides. Be careful not to pierce through the bottom.

Squeeze the seeds and pulpy bits into the couscous. You can chop up some of the insides as well, but don’t do too much.

Tear some basil leaves and add to the couscous and tomatoes. Drizzle with some olive oil and add a grind of black pepper. Mix well.

Stuff the mixture into each of the tomatoes. I overfilled a little bit. Place the tomatoes in a foil lined baking dish. Look no clean up!

Top each tomato with a slice of mozzarella cheese.

Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes until the cheese melts over the top.

And there is a caprese salad that is a meal by itself!

Mangia.