Scalloped Tomatoes

I was super excited to see a big bag of home-grown tomatoes on my desk yesterday morning. My co-worker John has been bringing in his garden goodies to share with a few of us for years. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

My wheels started turning and I hit up some websites on the iPad while sitting in front of the TV during my lunch hour. I got so into the recipe hunt, I ended up not eating a big enough lunch to hold me over until dinner. Food distraction while eating, awesome.

I found a recipe on AllRecipes.com for Scalloped Tomatoes. It looked super interesting and I had all of the ingredients except the bread. I stopped at the store on my way home from work and picked up a mini loaf of freshly baked Pain Pour Deux. I was all set and ready to cook once I walked through the door.

The Ingredients:

1/4 Cup Butter – yes, that’s a lot of butter
1 Onion Chopped – I used a white onion
1 Teaspoon Salt
Ground Black Pepper to Taste
1/2 Teaspoon Dried Basil – I also used fresh – about 3 small leaves
4 Teaspoons Brown Sugar
5 Sliced Tomatoes – I used the entire bowl of small tomatoes (about 25) – I will for sure use small ones next time too.
2 Cups of white bread cubes – I definitely think Pain Pour Deux did the job, sourdough would also be good. I might even try a whole grain wheat next time.
1/2 Cup Shaved Parmesan Cheese – I had the Nugget Market’s fromager (cheese guy) shave mine for me – fresh is fabulous! – This was not in the original recipe.
1 Garlic Clove – I used the frozen Trader Joe’s garlic – This was not in the original recipe.

Directions:

I set my oven to 375 degrees F., and then started on my prep work.

I got my onions and tomatoes chopped while my butter was melting in a sauté pan on the stove set to medium/high heat.

I then got my onions in the pan and stirred them until they became soft and translucent. They started to brown on the edges, so I knew it was time to add my spices. Salt, pepper, basil (fresh and dry) and brown sugar. I then added the tomatoes.

I added a frozen cube (1 crushed clove) of the Trader Joe’s garlic at this point and got everything mixed together. I then added the chopped up bread into the pan.

The bread immediately soaks up the butter (sinful) – continue to stir until everything is evenly coated.

Not sure if it was the brown sugar or the basil, but the smells coming from that pan were out of this world. I was almost too impatient to even put the dish into the oven. I was ready to eat it right then and there.

Next you will need to transfer the mixture from the sauté pan into a greased casserole dish. I used a shallow one and actually just coated it with an olive oil spray.

Sprinkle the top of the dish with the shaved parmesan cheese and bake in the oven for 30-35 minutes. The top will be a golden brown and the edges of the bread will be crispy like croutons.

I can without a doubt say that this is one of my favorite Foodiddy dishes to date. I EASILY could have eaten the entire casserole dish – I had to refrain from doing so. I kept going back for one more tomato, one more piece of bread… OMG, it was incredible and I will definitely serve this at my next dinner party. Who’s coming?

My thought is that it would be the perfect side dish to anything grilled. Chicken tops my list of possibilities. I ate it as my main meal last night. The AllRecipes recipe says it yields 6 servings. That’s a freakin’ joke… there is no way – I’d say 4 max as a side dish and 2-3 as a main dish.

Oh tomato and cheese bread goodness how I love thee… and to think it all started with a bag of fresh tomatoes on my desk. Life is good!

One more photo because I can’t stop thinking about it.  I finished the evening with 5 miles on the treadmill and honestly thought about the dish the entire time. Will walk/run for food!

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35 comments

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    • Jessica on August 4, 2010 at 11:51 am

    I’m coming! That looks incredible and I want it RIGHT NOW!

    1. Drinks are waiting 😉

    • rebecca on August 4, 2010 at 11:52 am

    ooohhh… that looks amazing!!! cant wait to try it out…

    1. Hey Rebecca – Congrats on a fabulous weekend, couldn’t comment on your blog for some reason. Let me know if you try this recipe.

      1. Foo… I made the recipe last night and it was uh-maz-ing!!

        however, i did have a few soggy pieces. did you? wonder if not all pieces soaked up teh butter equally?!

        i used regular tomatos and I think the cherrys would be the best.. too much tomatoe guts!

        1. Yay Rebecca – glad it turned out uh-maz-ing! LOL…. I didn’t get any soggy pieces and I really think it’s what you said, too much tomato guts with the bigger chunked tomatoes. The smaller cherry or grape variety have much thicker skin and they hold their shape fairly well. Good to know that it still tastes good no matter what kind of tomatoes you use, but I will definitely continue to use the smaller ones because I really loved the texture.

    • Sandy on August 4, 2010 at 12:08 pm

    Oh, this looks sooooooo good!!!! Another one of your recipe’s I have to try! I’m learning so much from your website. You’re teaching an “old dog, new tricks”.

    1. Awwww…. maybe I should come for rav making so I could learn from the master and family.

    • Marnie on August 4, 2010 at 12:21 pm

    I want that.

    1. Come over 🙂

        • Marnie on August 9, 2010 at 8:40 am

        Dude, I made this over the weekend LOVED it! Will definitely keep this in my recipe binder. Thanks! But I’ll still come over and eat yours! haha

    • Aim on August 4, 2010 at 12:28 pm

    Another recipe I’m making of yours!! My kiddos just may eat this due to the bread, cheese and butter goodness! They loved the porcupine meatballs…

    1. Glad the kiddos like the porcupine balls – a new tradition for you guys. Good luck with the boys on this one, you could always use less tomatoes, but they really are the best part. O.k… maybe the bread is, hah!

    • Dubu on August 4, 2010 at 12:35 pm

    I know what I’m making for dinner tonight!!!! Considering my kids do not like tomatoes, it’ll be perfect for hubby and me (they can top ramin ;-0)

    1. Hah! Hah! Your dinner will be much better than the Top Ramen for the kids… too funny!

    • Steph on August 4, 2010 at 3:04 pm

    When should I be there? Looks amazing!

    • Bonnie on August 4, 2010 at 3:18 pm

    Your tomato dish looks and sounds wonderful. Think I will try it at one of the many luncheons I get invited to;I get tired of taking the same old thing. Thanks for being the “Mikey”. Cuz if you like it then I know the rest of us most likely will too. 🙂

    • Tina on August 4, 2010 at 8:26 pm

    I want free fresh veggies! lucky!
    sounds yummy…

    • frank on August 4, 2010 at 8:36 pm

    I swear to you, I can actually smell it right now. The ultimate comfort food. I agree, this is your best one yet.

    1. Let me know if you try it!

    • Susi on August 5, 2010 at 6:13 pm

    Simple, but yet stunning! This sounds so mind blowing amazing that I will have to cook this asap! I”m putting the ingredients on my shopping list as soon as I’m done commenting!

    1. Judging from the emails and comments I’ve gotten, everyone has loved it. It does seem that people notice a bit of a difference with bigger tomatoes – so try to find the small cherry or grape sized… or romas if you want larger pieces. I think the thicker the skin the better.

    • Sandy on August 5, 2010 at 6:18 pm

    Delicious!!!!! We had it tonight. I’ll be making this one again and again!!

    1. I’m glad you guys liked it. I am already looking forward to my next bag of tomatoes from my co-worker. Yum!

        • Yuba John on August 8, 2010 at 6:28 pm

        I got the hint

        1. Hah! Hah! – bring em! 🙂

    • Dubu on August 6, 2010 at 10:32 am

    WOW!!! This dish is amazing ;-). I made this last night for dinner and even my kids who don’t like tomatoes tried it and liked it (it’s probably the brown sugar and butter that did it for them). Next time, I’ll try the cherry tomatoes– yours looks much more appetizing than mine did. I used 6 large very ripe tomatoes cut into chunks. Very delicious!!!!

    1. So glad you liked it. I definitely think the texture of the smaller tomatoes helps the dish from getting too soggy.

    • Karen on August 7, 2010 at 7:53 am

    Kathleen….I haven’t tried this yet, but I dreamed about it last night. I’m not kidding….obviously, I can’t wait to try it and would love to come on by for a barbeque!!!

    • Paul on August 7, 2010 at 8:45 am

    Bread, cheese, tomatoes, garlic, SUGAR… Bring it!

    • Karen on August 9, 2010 at 5:29 am

    One more quick question….about how much of that loaf did you need to make 2 cups?

    1. It was a mini loaf and I used 1/2 – about 6 inches and 300 calories worth. 😉

    • Lisa Clark on August 15, 2010 at 11:57 am

    Hi Kathleen,

    I am sending your web site to my daughter-in-law Angelica Schwartz and her sister Azalea Medina. I think I am convinces I have to order one of those slicers. Thanks for sharing with all of us. I love your photos! Lisa

    • kristen on August 17, 2010 at 11:10 am

    I made this over the weekend and it was SINFUL!!! I will definitely be making it again.

    • Kim Williams on September 1, 2010 at 8:55 am

    I made this last night using a bowl of orange and red cherry tomatoes from a friend’s garden. It was delicious! I doubled the recipe as there were 5 of us, including my veggie son. I think next time I will cut back on the brown sugar, as it was a tad sweet for us. I am thinking of maybe substituting balsamic vinegar for the sugar….

    Thanks for the recipe!

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