Maggie Monday: Tomato Gratin

This blog is so full of main dishes, I am always excited to highlight a side dish. Here’s Maggie with an excellent one!

I am always on the search for interesting tomato dishes. This one comes from Eating Well Magazine. It is low fat, so not too bad for you. This is really easy to make, and a great and different way to use up tomatoes from your garden if your harvest is good!

It looks and smells amazing. It was pretty good. The flavor reminded me of having tomato soup as a kid. My mom gave us breadcrumbs to sprinkle on our soup sometimes when we didn’t have crackers. I would often sneak extra breadcrumbs, making it so thick it was almost a gruel! So weird, but I’ll never forget that flavor. My first bite of this dish took me right back to my childhood dining room.

It you are looking for a quick side dish, and you have a tomato-loving crowd, try this recipe.

Tomato Gratin

What you need:

½ cup panko bread crumbs

1 Tb minced garlic

1Tb olive oil

1/3 cup finely shredded parmesan cheese

4 medium tomatoes, sliced

¼ cup chopped fresh basil

salt and pepper

What you do

Preheat oven to 450°. Coat a shallow 2 quart baking dish with cooking spray.

Place bread crumbs in a food processor. Add parmesan cheese, garlic and olive oil. Pulse to combine. Spread the breadcrumb mixture on a baking sheet and bake until beginning to brown, about 5 minutes.

Layer the tomato slices in the prepared backing dish. Sprinkle each layer with salt, pepper and chopped basil. Bake the tomatoes for about 10 minutes. Remove from oven, and sprinkle with the breadcrumb mixture. Bake for 10 more minutes. Serve immediately.