FOOD : Salad Days : Country-Style Cookbook Recipe Offers a New Way to Stuff a Tomato

YOU NEEDN’T GO formal to entertain with panache. In “James Villas’ Country Cook- ing” (Little, Brown: $19.95), Villas, the food and wine editor of Town and Country magazine, offers readers a series of menus designed to please guests informally and with flair.

Of the following recipe for Tomatoes Stuffed With Shellfish-and-Orzo Salad, Villas says: “This delectable summertime salad, used as stuffing for fresh tomatoes, was created by Leon Lianides at my beloved Coach House restaurant in New York, but if lobsters are sky-high in price, you might simply prefer to triple the amount of shrimp. Do, on the other hand, bend over backwards to obtain genuine orzo , since regular rice just doesn’t have the same chewy texture.”

Orzo is a rice-grain-shaped pasta. In the L.A. area, it is available in the pasta sections of many supermarkets and at specialty grocery stores.

TOMATOES STUFFED WITH SHELLFISH-AND-ORZO SALAD 1 large lemon, cut in half 3 live 1 1/2-pound lobsters 1 pound large fresh shrimp 1 cup orzo 3 cups mayonnaise 3 teaspoons dry mustard 2 teaspoons chopped fresh chives 2 teaspoons chopped fresh dill cup finely chopped parsley Salt and freshly ground pepper 8 large ripe tomatoes 8 leaves romaine lettuce

Fill very large steamer or canning pot about halfway with salted water. Squeeze juice from lemon into water. Drop in lemon halves. Bring water to full boil; plunge lobsters head first into water. Cover and cook 8 minutes. Add shrimp. Cook 2 minutes longer, transfer lobster and shrimp to sink and run them under cold water to cool.

Strain cooking liquid into another large pot and return to boil. Add orzo , stir and cook 10 minutes. Drain and chill.

Remove meat from lobsters. Shell and de-vein shrimp. Cut lobster meat and shrimp into bite-size pieces.

In large bowl, combine mayonnaise, mustard, chives, dill and half of parsley, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Blend well. Add lobster and shrimp and mix until well coated with dressing.

Remove cores from tomatoes and cut tomatoes 3/4 open. Fill with shellfish-and- orzo salad. Place leaf of romaine across each of 8 serving plates. Place stuffed tomato in center of each. Sprinkle each serving with remaining parsley. Makes 8 servings.

Food styling by Norman Stewart; prop styling by Stacey Anne for A La Mode/L.A.; plate from Robinson’s, Beverly Hills.