Provencal tomatoes
You can't resist the smell of sun-kissed tomatoes slowly roasting in the oven with garlic, herbs and bread. A match made in heaven. Perfect for these warm summer days, when you lunch under a big tree, lazy from the hot sun, listening to the birds and enjoying a scrumptious meal with friends and family. Heaven...
Ingredients
- 4 large tomatoes, washed, stem removed and halved diagonal
- 5 tbsp olive oil, divided 1:4
- salt and pepper
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- 1 large garlic clove, peeled and minced
- 10 g fresh basil, finely chopped
- 8 fresh thyme sprigs, leaves only
- 5 g fresh parsley, finely chopped
- 75 g sourdough bread, torn into small pieces
- 20 g freshly grated parmesan (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 200 C.
- Rub the bottom of your baking dish with one tablespoon olive oil.
- Place the halved tomatoes, cut side up, into your baking dish.
- Sprinkle with salt, freshly ground pepper and sugar.
- Mix the garlic, herbs, bread crumbs, olive oil, salt, pepper and parmesan cheese (optional) in a bowl.
- Top the tomato cut sides with the mixture and bake them for 20 to 25 minutes.
- You might have to cover the tomatoes loosely with some foil if the topping is browning too quickly.
- You can serve the tomatoes hot or at room temperature. They are perfect as a side dish for lamb, chicken, steaks or on its own with some fresh, crusty bread and a glass of chilled Rose wine. If you serve the tomatoes as main dish, count 1 1/2 to 2 tomatoes per person.
- Tip: It is important to use fresh bread crumbs, otherwise the dish doesn't work! I usually put my stale sourdough bread in the food processor to make bread crumbs. Then I freeze them for whenever I need breadcrumbs, like in this recipe or for pangrattato (crispy bread crumbs as pasta topping). Be careful not to make the crumbs too fine, you want some texture.