These are a wonderful side dish, especially if you are fortunate enough to have a garden with nice tomatoes beckoning to be enjoyed in something other than a salad or on a sandwich.
What I love about this dish is it's loaded with fresh herbs and again, if you have herbs growing in your garden this is the perfect way to enjoy the herbs of your labor!
I personally have much more success growing herbs than any vegetables since I live in Texas and my garden area doesn’t have enough shade so I have resolved myself to only grow herbs, so I call it my herb garden. Specifically, I have tarragon, thyme, parsley, basil, sage, rosemary, and mint. Although the rosemary takes up about ⅓ of the garden so it looks vastly disproportionate. But it matters not to me what the garden looks like as I get lots of joy when I go to my garden, cut the herbs I need, and then use in my dishes. Then at mealtime, I will most often brag to my husband that the herbs are from my garden. To which he’ll indulge me with a fist bump, he’s funny like that.
Anyway, back to the tomatoes! They would pair nicely with any kind of grilled meat or fish or even serve them as a lovely brunch dish instead.
The recipe calls for several herbs, but if you prefer other herbs more than the ones I've listed sub in your favorites instead.
Happy Cooking!!!
Ingredients:
4 nice sized ripe tomatoes
1 cup of fresh bread crumbs (I zip mine up in a food processor or blender)
1 Tablespoon of minced green onions
1 Tablespoon of minced fresh basil
1 Tablespoon of minced fresh rosemary
2 teaspoons of minced fresh parsley
½ teaspoon of minced fresh thyme
1 clove minced garlic
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon fresh cracked pepper
½ cup grated Gruyere (or swiss, or shredded Parmesan cheese)
Olive Oil to drizzle
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Cut out the cores of the tomatoes.
Cut the tomatoes in half horizontally then with your fingers carefully remove the seeds.
Place the tomatoes cut side up in a baking dish big enough to hold the tomatoes close together.
In a small mixing bowl combine the bread crumbs, herbs, salt, and pepper then stuff the mixture evenly into the tomato halves. They will be full and mounded.
Bake the tomatoes for 15 minutes then remove from the oven and sprinkle with cheese and a drizzle of olive oil then bake for 1 more minute to melt the cheese.
May be served hot or at room temperature.
