The Food Network had the audacity (I am joking, a little) to air an episode of Barefoot Contessa in which she makes a “scalloped” dish with bread cubes, garlic, basil, Parmesan and the brightest most summer-bursting-forth, musta-tasted-like-the-heavens-above, thanks-for-rubbing-it-in-guys tomatoes over the winter, when there was absolutely nothing I could do to bring this dish into my kitchen. It wasn’t fair. It felt outright mean. For people as berserk about summer tomatoes as I am — people who avoid them in the off seasons, when they’re tomatoes in name only — being reminded of that which is as impossibly far off as the notion that there are days in the summer that are so hot, we actually long for the kind of weather that requires Gore-Tex and hot cocoa. It’s basically crazy talk.
Well, that day is today. Seriously, every time I arrive at the market during this wretched July, I am so hot, I’m almost dizzy (Do I remember my water bottle? Of course not. Do I feel like a tool for whimpering over the heat while carousing with people who work in fields all day? Um, yup.) and I cannot remember a single thing I had meant to buy because the sun, it’s like blistering my brain and ooh look! Tomatoes! Ah, summer, that’s why I keep you around.
I remembered this though: buy tomatoes, lots of them. Buy basil, a little of it. Buy a loaf of bread. Go home. Make it happen. I didn’t forget you, Ina, and your charming barn kitchen witty friends scalloped tomatoes. I sliced and diced and sautéed and minced and even turned the oven on and proceeded to have the best lunch I’ve eaten all summer. I’m literally about to walk back into the kitchen a get some more. Yes, I know it is 4 p.m. and I might ruin my dinner but I don’t care. If it had even a whiff of tomato, it was ruined anyway; it would never compare. Fellow (and future) tomato junkies, come and get your fix below.
P.S. Weekend morning leftovers? Try it with a poached egg on top.
One year ago: Arugula Potato and Green Bean Salad
Two years ago: Salad Olivier
Three years ago: Double Layer Chocolate Cake
Scalloped Tomatoes with Croutons
Adapted, only slightly, from Sarah Chase, who inspired this version from Ina Garten
Although it will feel blasphemous to add heat to that which is perfect just as it arrived, summer tomatoes, this doesn’t cook them to death, more like wilts them slightly. They’re still juicy (juicier, actually because the heat released all of their awesomeness) and rather than losing that sweet puddle, the bread cubes sop it up and you don’t miss a thing. The sugar seems odd, I know, but I trust The Ina, I trusted that she’s never led me astray and sure enough, it works in here. It just rounds out the whole dish. It just… I’m sorry, I can’t talk. I have to go get thirds.
3 tablespoons olive oil (reduced from original)
2 cups bread from a French boule, in a 1/2-inch dice, crusts removed (I went closer to 3 cups, after buying a loaf of very puffy Italian bread by accident)
2 1/2 pounds plum whatever good tomatoes you’ve got, cut into 1/2-inch dice
3 cloves garlic, minced (about 1 tablespoon)
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons Kosher salt (read this)
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup thinly slivered basil leaves, lightly packed
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Heat olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high. Add the bread cubes and stir so that they are evenly coated with oil. Cook cubes, tossing frequently, until toasty on all sides, about 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, combine tomatoes, garlic, sugar, salt and pepper in a large bowl. When the bread cubes are toasted, add the tomato mixture and cook them together, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes. Remove from heat, and stir in the basil. Pour into a shallow (6 to 8 cup) baking dish and top with Parmesan cheese. Bake 35 to 40 minutes until the top is browned and the tomatoes are bubbly. Serve hot or warm with a big green salad, a bean salad and/or a poached egg.
This looks delightful! I know how you feel about missing all of the summer fruits and veggies when the you’re caught in the dead of winter. It’s just really exciting to see all the bright colors and delicious produce when you walk through a market now!
Deb I love that you put a poached egg on everything and call it brunch. I’m the same way. Leftover lasagna? Mmm poached egg. Enchiladas con huevos? Nom.
And next up: This tomato blissyness.
I love you add an egg to all your leftovers and call it brunch :) I see another fabulous meal in my future…
Oh my!! This looks wonderful, but I think that I need to eat my tomatoes raw for a few weeks with just a bit of salt before I am willing to bake them.
We had tomatoes in our farm share for the first time this year this week. After the tomato disaster of last year, it seems that all of the members are still mourning the tomato loss last year. As each person walked around the stand to collect their vegetables, there was an exclamation of “TOMATOES!” followed by some worshipful statement. (The farmers who were there were beaming with pride even more than they usually are.) We were only allowed 1/2 lb, which amounted to one tomato, which I was nice enough to bring home to share with my husband. It was more delicious than I remembered fresh tomatoes to be.
Colleen
totally doing this next weekend. YUM. (btw, did you mean to link to your kosher salt size discrepancy tip in the ingredients list? i just saw that alton brown mentions such discrepancies in his pizza crust recipes too! the nerve of salt manufacturers!)
Emma — Yes, fixed now. Thanks.
I remember seeing that episode of BC and thinking that looked fabulous (said like Ina!) :) I was thinking that it might be overly juicy…glad you cleared that up. I am excited to try it now!
Isn’t everything awesome with a poached egg on top? This looks faboosh. Thanks.
As I just said on my friend Kim’s blog, when she’d shown a marvelous brunch featuring lamb and shrimp and three-kinds-of-pork-on-one-kebab, along with pots de creme, then followed it up next day with lamb hash and sous vide eggs: GIRL! Will you GIVE it a REST!
Our tomatoes are just coming in, with three-for-slicing at a time, so it will be a week or so before I can even attempt this—but oh, you betcha, I’m gonna!
What a wonderful way to use up fresh, juicy, summer tomatoes!! We’re going to have a glut on our hands in a few weeks, so I’ve been searching for delicious looking recipes…like this one! Even if I would call it “tomato gratin” instead of scalloped, because sometimes you just have to do what you have to do.
Now then….off to find new ways to use up that blasted fresh picked zucchini….
good god that sounds lovely…can’t wait for my tomatoes to ripen!
Mmmm, that looks amazing! My only problem would be getting the tomatoes into the dish without eating them first. I’m going to show this post to the tomatoes in my garden and see if it will encourage them to ripen.
A neighbor pressed a WHOLE lot of his heirloom tomatoes on my husband. I am totally making this before any more of them get soft! It looks fabulous!
This looks delish! I picked up a couple of pounds of Jersey tomatoes yesterday and I can’t wait to dig into them. I will definitely give this a try. Btw, if you have the freezer space, you can freeze raw tomatoes for satisfying the dead-of-winter-tomato-cravings.
I haven’t grown any tomatoes this year :(
but I have a couple of basil plants!
so I’m off to buy some red gold at the farmer’s market…this looks heavenly.
Don’t you just hate those summer reruns on Food Network in the middle of winter? :) I am currently under tomato attack.. they just keep coming and coming from the garden so this is perfect timing. Looking forward to trying it this week, I am thinking with some chicken on the grill, I will have a complete dinner!
This looks and sounds delicious and there will be more tomatoesm. These things I know but what keeps me coming back is the unknown: where will the link be, what will he be doing and what will his hair look like?! The wonderful recipes just justify the joyful surprise of each picture you share of that little tyke. I am sure I speak for many: that boy has all the extra aunties, and grandmas any kid could ever want. We would all take him home and love on him for at least a day or two until we remembered that they tend to take over ones life!
That’s it I am going to brave the summer heat in AZ and go to my local farmer’s market. I have to get some of those tomatoes. Great recipe!
I love tomatoes and this recipe is so yummy looking. I only wish our tomatoes here in Washington had the flavor of those I’ve had in Kentucky, Maryland, Virginia and New Jersey; it makes my mouth water just thinking about them.
This might just bring me out of my tomato-doldrums…every year I plant tomatoes, and every year they slowly shrivel up and die as I watch, unable to help, even with Miracle Gro. However, my neighbor grows the most amazing tomatoes…her plants are loaded with big, GREEN maters just waiting for a bit more sun…so I’m going to print this recipe and patiently wait until my neighbor tells me she can’t pick/eat another tomato – usually about mid-August – and then I’ll come to her rescue, strip her plants bald, make this dish and live happily ever after. Thanks Deb, from one tomato-loving fool to another – thanks!
Wow, this looks incredible. We’ve got some tomatoes to use… I think I may know just what to do with them now. Thanks for the note, too, about reducing the olive oil to toast the bread cubes. In Ina’s panzanella salad, she actually toasts the bread in olive oil on the stove too, but I’ve found that you can just toast them in the oven instead and forgo the fuss of minding them on the stove. I wonder if you could streamline in this recipe, too–especially since you are already turning the oven on?
Oh goodness. I live for simple summer dishes like this! It sort of reminds me of a hot version of panzanella salad…you’ve got tomatoes, crusty bread, olive oil, basil….YUM.
I add sugar to most tomato dishes now. It’s supposed to counteract the somethingness of the tomatoes. This dish looks great. Cooking shows in the winter can be dangerous! On nights where I see something I can’t have, I often succumb to the urge to go out for dinner.
Mm, I love the poached egg on top. Looks so good, Deb! I recently made a batch of slow-roasted tomatoes with garlic and olive oil, but I didn’t think to mix them with bread and cheese . . . clearly I missed out!
When I glanced through the ingredients I immediately thought of a tomato bruschetta. I have to say though that this dish looks much more interesting. Especially with the addition of the poached egg on top!
Magda
Tomatoes are, far and away, my favorite food on the planet. (Documented on my blog as well). I will be making this fast!
I’m drooling. There is nothing better in life then a roasted (or slightly wilted) tomato.
This looks so good. I’m going to put poached eggs on top of all kinds of things now and call it breakfast.
I am growing my first tomatoes on my deck – 5 pots worth – so this is PERFECT timing. I ADORE TOMATOES – the more the better – all the time!!!!
thanks for the idea!! I have leftover homemade no-knead bread on the counter, so I’ll be ready for to make this dish a bit later on today.
I just made a frittata with my first harvest of grape tomatoes and it tastes like heaven. YUMMY……………….late brekkie.
I’m so glad I picked up those tomatoes at the farmers’ market today. Guess what I’m making for dinner…..
Beautiful looking dish. I had to re-read a couple times to see what the egg was all about. Like your idea of brunch.
Mmmm. Can’t wait until my tomatoes are ready!
I feel the same way about summer tomatoes! And thanks for the link regarding Morton’s Kosher Salt; that is what I use and there is a Barefoot Contessa recipe for a sundried tomato dip that I made and then wondered how she could possibly eat such a salty dish! Now I know because I always use Morton’s.
Oh, ho, ho! Now this looks wonderful. I love the use of the leftovers! You know what other Ina Garten leftover I like with an egg on top? Her Chive Rissoto Cakes. I was very into it back in May. Now, I have to try this. That Ina is something else. But of course, so is Deb of Smitten Kitchen ;)
This is similar to a Tomato Bread Pudding I make every summer to celebrate The Roma: roasted tomatoes, roasted bread crumbs, roasted garlic, then all baked together in a lake of cream, milk, eggs, herbs, and fontina. Heaven. http://bit.ly/9fy7C6
This would go great with a poached egg. Looks and sounds lovely.
Thanks for sharing.
This looks amaaazing, and I’m not even a huge fan of tomatoes.
Dinner!
I had my first farm-fresh heirloom tomatoes this weekend – I think I cried a little.
Yum! Love how easy it is, and I’m imagining the smells wafting through the apartment! And the poached egg idea is perfect to make it a whole meal!
Oh man, this look soooooooo good. Do you seed the tomatoes or use them whole?
Never seed tomatoes! The gel surrounding the seeds is where most of the flavor resides. The seeds are **NOT** bitter – that’s a myth.
Is it important that you use plum tomatoes or will any variety really do?
Debby — Gah, meant to mention that any tomatoes will do. I had, uh, round ones. Whatever kind, I don’t know. I’ll update.
Gosh that sounds fabulous!
Looks delicious! Unfortunately my husband thinks dinner without meat isn’t dinner….so I might have to mix in some turkey sausage.
LOVED this post! I do tend to agree with you about Food Network airing episodes out of season some times…to shame! I am LOVING this idea though, Ive been roasting tomatoes galore this summer and the croutons sound perfect to me! I have some fresh heirlooms on hand, Ill be making this dish this coming week!
I love the smell of fresh ripe tomatoes, nothing will match it. That egg looked so divine on top too!
Oh goodness, this makes me even more homesick for my kitchen. Looks amazing.
That looks like a dish well-worth waiting months for. Fresh tomatoes can have that effect on you.
Fabulous. I saw the same show on Food Network and thought the same thing. I will make it as soon as I can get my hands on some good bread.
A couple of things:
FYI, the restaurant at Shaker Village in Kentucky makes casseroles like this for every evening meal, changing day by day depending on the produce. (They make a tomato dish like this one which has, I think, oregano and brown sugar.) They don’t have recipes on the website, but anyone interested in ordering their cookbook – or an amazingly relaxing and well-fed weekend – could check their website: http://www.shakervillageky.org/.
Also – gorgeous baking dish. What kind is it?
Thanks for all the wonderful recipes. (Oh yeah, that zuchinni and ricotta galette had me swearing, mostly because it was so hot and humid in my kitchen that the dough kept getting really sticky.”Never again!,” I said. And then we ate it. OH MY STARS. My husband said that may be one of the best things I’ve ever cooked. (The best thing that I’ve ever cooked, he said a few days prior, was chana masala from your recipe.)
Michelle
Michelle — That sounds delicious. I would like a weekend anywhere right now! All our bowls and dishes, and that baking dish, are from a set we registered for when we got married. Calvin Klein, Cargo Dinnerware; it’s the Oval Baker in Sage and I don’t see it online anywhere, though the collection is here.
Great – summer tomatoes, Deb & Ina … looks like we may have to turn the oven on this weekend after all!
Hi there. i’ve never commented before, but i love your site and have been reading it and getting inspired by it for a couple years now. you crack me up and make me wanna cook. cant wait to make this one….its a perfect weekend baking and take to work recipe!
Oh boy… Now I am *almost* sad I used my huge stack of tomatoes in the fridge to make the in-laws’ incredible sauce. But only almost. My garden is producing so many tomatoes that we can eat several a day and yet the freezer continues to fill and re-fill. I’m sure it will fill again fast enough, and this is next on the list!!
I just helped out my aunt and trimmed her out-of-control Rosemary bush that is taking over her patio. It must be fate that just yesterday I found a recipe for homemade bread with Rosemary and a few Italian herbs on dineanddish.net. That bread is begging to be cut up and used for this!
If only you could try Greek summer tomatoes. Heaven. I ate them every day for over a month while I was there. No vinegar. Just salt and oil. It’s really crazy how GOOD tomatoes are when they are good!
This looks reeaaally great! Your incredible photos inspire me to make some right now, and to learn to become a better photographer. Thank you for inspiration on both counts.
Kathleen
gotta love that Ina! i first had this dish last february in florida when my friend had some women for lunch. we scarfed down the entire batch, copied the recipe and 2 days later, i made it to accompany a roast chicken. my hubby loved it, too! haven’t made it for a couple of months now, but with the tomato season gearing up, it will definitely be back on the menu again even though it means turning on the oven with no air contioning in this equatorial summer we’ve been having in Metro N.Y.! i love your site and have been a daily visitor for several years. BTW, your son is precious!
I’m so with you on eating a seasonal tomato; I haven’t eaten a fresh one since last Summer! But they’ll be at my local market soon and I’m going to hoard every single one of them! Love the scalloped tomato idea!
I love the idea how you add an egg and call it brunch. The entire dish looks yumm with those tomatoes. Being in garden state I wouldn’t have any problems to get fresh tomatoes.
Made it today!! Yum, daughter thought so too. Just happened to have made assaigo pesto bread too, they went together well.
It’s like Ina saw pappa al pomodoro and was like, ‘dang I gotta make this and then stick it in the oven.’ And then she did and it was awesome. Also I gotta make this once I deal with the absurd number of other tomato dishes I have promised myself to make.
That looks incredible. I’ve got a ton of tomatoes in my garden to use – more than I can consume by themselves. Thanks so sharing this…and I think it’d be great with a poached egg!
I made something very similar the other day that I found on the Wednesday Chef, but it was with cherry tomatoes and pasta. It was simple, but fabulous nevertheless. I love the poached egg idea though!
OOH I can’t wait to make this. My grandmother used to serve scalloped tomatoes and I loved it, even as a very picky child. I’ve been looking for a similar recipe since my college days and will try this. I’m sure she used canned tomatoes and sandwich bread, but it was still tasty to me. I’m sending the article on to my daughter, too, because she just mentioned how much she loves things with an egg on top! Thank you.
Oh my, this looks so good!
Yes! Fellow tomato junkie here. Never thought of myself that way but fits me to a T. Most recent great tomatoes here in Florida have been the “Ugly.” A misnomer to be sure as they have a beautiful look and flavor. I’ll be looking forward to making this later in the week after a trip to the market. Just sent your slow cooking fabulous looking beef brisket recipe to my sister.
I’m making this for supper tonight! Quick question though. Did you peel your tomatoes first?
Brenda — Funny you mention that. I didn’t but sort of wished I had. Now, I ran a couple recipes last summer where I suggested peeled tomatoes and people acted like I was cray-cray so now I keep my occasional tomato-peeling ways to myself. But there’s something about the slippery-ness of this dish where I found the skins to be an annoying interruption. Also, my tomatoes are really early tomatoes (I thought I’d made sure they were field grown but now I’m questioning whether the heat made me forget to check, argh, feh) and the skins were kinda thick.
I’ve never had scalloped tomatoes! Actually, I’ve never even heard of them. I feel like this is a tragedy, and I will change this tonight. Awesome.
This really does look amazing. The closest thing I’ve had to this is stewed tomatoes with basil and parmesan croutons. I LOVE stewed tomatoes..as long as they haven’t been stewed to mush. I should be embarrassed to say, but I’ll even eat canned stewed tom’s. Blush!
I love that with a poached egg on top. Most weeknights I don’t have time to prepare any of Ina’s vegetable dishes, but in the past, I have sometimes just made them as the main course, topped with, of course, an egg. (Her zucchini cakes are great that way.) I bet this would be great tossed over pasta as well. And I always buy an extra tomato to eat before I cook them! I love them with a little salt and pepper.
That looks luscious. Unfortunately we only got 2 tomatoes from the CSA this week, but as soon as I can get my hands on some, I’m totally making this.
This Southerner doesn’t care for raw tomatoes – I know; blasphemy. But I do like scalloped cherry tomatoes, which I make with brown-sugared bread crumbs and butter. So. Very. Good. Almost like eating dessert first. (Tomatoes are fruit afterall, right?) This would be a great twist on that, and I can’t wait to give it a try!
I’m drooling over that breakfast version. I love the idea of a poached egg over all of that delicious tomato-ness. I’m thinking I’ll bake it in individual ramakins for extra cuteness (and portion control – I think I could eat the whole recipe myself!)
Deb: I’ve been gluten-free for about 6 weeks now and really, I haven’t missed bread…that much…but then this recipe! Girl, you’re killing me! Any subs that you can think of for the bread crumbs? And don’t suggest gluten-free bread: as a true bread lover I think the name “bread” should be stricken from the label of those concoctions!
This is so cruel. I had all the ingredients, including a beautiful bunch of organic basil and several perfect summer tomatoes, and what did I make with them? Bruschetta. Even though it was delicious, I’m kicking myself for not making this instead. This is definitely bookmarked for later!
Perfect timing for me as all our poor tomato plants, after weeks of hot hot weather and finally some good rains, are bursting forth with fruit and I was trying to think of a new way to use the not-so-pretty-but-still-tasty ones. Nom.
What a novel dish! Adding it to my summer cooking list. Thanks.
Hi Deb! I live in a city where the tomatoes sold in supermarkets are always under-ripe and fruit-fly-eaten. (I cannot wait to move elsewhere in a year!) Do you think this recipe would suffer terribly if I used some sort of canned tomatoes?
Looks delicious!! If only I could stand to turn on my oven right now…
Thank you, thank you for posting this in time for my Sunday dinner! It is my new favorite meal. (True confessions, I crumbled a strip of bacon on top and had it with a Chimay Bleu.) Delish!
Oooh, just the thought of summer tomatoes and basil is making me think of summer days while I huddle in front of the fire and cook winter warmers to stave off the cold!
Have to remember this one!
omg!!!!! I just made your herbed squash and potato torte this afternoon (insanely good, btw), then I made the mistake of logging on and seeing this. I want to make this RIGHT NOW. it looks so freaking amazing. plus, anything with the word “scalloped” in the title must be delicious, right?
I just showed this to my boyfriend, and his first words were, “it’s like a pizza casserole!” (meaning, “wow you should make that, it must be delicious!”) I can’t wait to buy some tomatoes tomorrow and try it out.
Hi Deb – I just made this and the flavor is out of this world! Mine came out very very soupy and the bread got very mushy – don’t get me wrong, I’m still in love with the dish, but do you have any suggestions for next time (which will be very soon)? Drain the tomatoes before mixing with the bread? Thank you!!
I just made this and it was incredible! I used sour dough bread and it added this really great tang, which was a great accompaniment to the tomatoes. Thanks for posting something so simple and delicious!
my favorite summer flavors all wrapped into one dish! Thank you.
My mom makes a similar dish but adds a pinch of cinnamon to it in addition to the sugar and leaves out the basil. It somehow works beautifully. I’ve made it basically as written but added sliced, lightly sauteed zucchini in layers. Yummy!
Hmph, someone’s the pot calling the kettle black! What the Food Network did to you? Well, dear Deb, it’s winter here in Australia. So you just passed the pain along! ;)
I did give this a try, and it was fantastic! I put poached eggs on top. The only thing I didn’t like was my bread was too mushy. I think I should of toasted the cubes a bit longer than five minutes. The flavor was so good though, I am going to try it again next weekend. I’ll let you know how it goes.
I made this tonight too – great flavor – but the bread was super mushy. Any tips from anyone else who made it? I wonder if it would have been different if I had left the crusts on the bread (it pained me to rip the crusts off in the first place!). But like I said, great flavor.
There are few recipes that will make me immediately go to the store, but that’s what this one did. Not hours after reading it I have it cooling on the stove and will soon be ready to put a poached egg on top of it!
Deb this looks so great! I am going to make it tomorrow night, what did you serve with it? Also, please let me compliment you on the consistent perfection of your poached eggs…I need to practice, yours always look beautifully delicious!
Perfect. I’m happy to see someone speak so reverently about tomatoes in season– I eat them only from July to October then make nothing that cannot be done with canned tomatoes. Every time I see a tomato recipe published in the paper or a magazine out-of-season I want to write a letter to the food editor and tell them they have lost all credibility in my eyes.
Have you ever done the dish where you poach/fry an egg right in a skillet of simmering tomato sauce? About 15 minutes start to finish and it makes a great lazy dinner.
Oh yeah! I’m fresh off the not-liking-any-non-processed-tomato-boat, thanks to growing my own for the first time… I’ve been freezing basil for two weeks, and my tomatoes are just now turning red. They may not make it to my future pasta sauce canning session after I try this recipe!
I have a serious aversion to fresh tomatoes. But fried bread, parmesan cheese, basil. I’m seriously considering making this. How can those other ingredients steer you wrong?
One of my favorite dishes is sauteed plum tomatoes with olive oil, garlic and basil served on garlic rubbed toast and served with an egg cooked in the same pan as the toms. This dish looks like its big sister. Thanks!
Second paragraph: tool – fool?
Its winter here in South Africa :( Summer tomatoes… What are those? Summer??? Huh???
I know that this would be incredible with Summer tomatoes, but I am sure it is very good with ripe plum or Campari tomatoes as well. The flavors really pop when the tomatoes are cooked or roasted. Ina does know her stuff, so I am sure it’s a great recipe. Thanks for sharing.
Looks delicious! Have you read the book, “Ripe, The Search for the Perfect Tomato” by Arthur Allen?
Lynne,
A fellow tomato junkie here. This recipe is perfect. Picked up some early tomatoes yesterday at the farmer’s market. I was told that the coveted heirlooms will be ready in two weeks. I’ve seriously thought about camping out at the market in anticipation.
Steve
I started tomatoes in my greenhouse in March. Planted on Good Friday. You would be shocked at how many yellow, red, gorgeous heirloom tomatoes were/are ready at the SAME time~ next year I’ll change all that!! BUT, my neighbors and fam sure love me this year.
I saw the same ms. barefoot show and tried a hit-and-miss recipe; fabulous! I do have to say I’m kinda sick of tomatoes by now; well, sick of the little acid bumps on the tip of my tongue, ouch~ (I know I’ll regret feeling this way come Christmas:-)
YUM!! This looks delicious! I found a recipe for scalloped tomatoes many years ago and went through a faze of making it weekly. Bad thing was it started out with an entire stick of butter, so I’m looking forward to trying this with olive oil.
You’re killing me over here! I’m sure a bit won’t hurt my little diabetic self .. I’ll just keep thinking moderation .. and brunch idea!!! Yippee!
I have never heard of scalloped tomatoes! What an awesome idea as tomatoes are coming in shortly here in Michigan. I am definately going to try this. Thanks for all the great recipes, I made the Chana Masala, from the recipe index, for my English In-laws and they loved it!!
I am a tomato snob, too. if I don’t buy them from a farmers market in the summer months, I just don’t eat them. They taste like wood the rest of the year.
This is going on my “to make” list.
I just love Ina! She has the air of a young aunt…or slightly older friend you want to let all your secrets to over a couple Manhattans. Pretty much everything she cooks seems perfectly delicious and elegant–all the fresh cut flowers don’t hurt!
The poached egg was a brilliant idea!
I made this a couple months ago when I saw it on Barefoot Contessa! It was sooo good, and the leftovers went great with some ziti!
ok. know how I get this in the winter? I freeze gallons (yes, gallons) of beautiful pear/cherry tomatoes from the farmers market. I have one family that I buy from – they’re $3 a quart, and I take them home, rinse and dry them, then freeze them on a baking tray. We have something similar to this for thanksgiving, in jan, feb, and on until it’s tomato time again.
Looks like an amazing use of tomatoes!
I don’t quite understand the meaning of scalloped – this looks amazing, though. :D
Wei-Wei
This looks awesome!
I always thought I didnt like tomatoes, now I have learned I dont like those things they sell in the grocery store that are red and pretend to be tomatoes and I now am officially addicted to the sweet little multi-colord cherry tomatoes at the green market I go to and have been buying them in mass because they will only be arround for the summer, so as a result I have been looking for new and tastey things to do with tomatoes (Jamie Oliver has a really good tomato salad too), thanks for another great idea, must try this,…..and adding the egg-YUM!!
@melissa (#110)- you can freeze tomatoes?? dont they get all funky?
Whoa! This is something that would make me turn on the oven in my kitchen during this heat wave. What a fabulous idea! Perfect as an entree for my vegetarian daughter, and as a side for the rest of us. And leftovers over pasta (if there are any)
This looks amazing! It’s finally tomato season here in Jersey and I’ve been looking for a way to use up mass quantities of those things out back that have overrun my garden. I can’t wait to make this – especially with the poached egg!
This post resonates with the delicious frustrations of reading too many Californian-based food bloggers while living and eating in Ontario, Canada!
mmmm… must make. do you suppose it would freeze well? and for that matter, can you suggest any other recipes that would as well? i’m looking for make ahead freezable vegetarian dinners to cook for a friend who just had a baby(and has a high maintenance two and a half year old as well, eesh)… right now i’m pretty sure they’re living on take out and fish sticks.
Yum, yum, yum. We miss our kitchen so much because we’ve been in China for the last month but, anywho, in China, they have the most beautiful, delicious, ripe tomatoes and – get this – nobody does anything with them. They just slice them up and eat them, which I am all for, but summer tomato dishes are my fave. So, when I get back to the States in a couple of weeks, this is on the table. Yay!
perfect for summer, this looks amazing, easy, and scrumptious. what’s FN thinking showing that in the winter? hopefully, a re-run….
Anndddd I’ve officially found what I’m doing with this week’s CSA tomatoes!
Becca
That sounds like a winner, even if I have to bake it in the dead of night.
I’ve never made a Barefoot Contessa recipe. I sometimes watch the show with my mom because she grew up in the eastern wilds of Long Island (back before it was so posh) and loves the scenery and garden shots and her amazing kitchen.
I tried it today and is fantastic! Thanx!
It was super! And in honor of your tomato and corn pie (which I absolutely love!) I added the kernals from two ears of corn. And I agree. The tomatoes need to be peeled first. I also was not able to get fresh basil, but used some fresh chives instead. Thanks, Deb!
This looks so good! I love Ina Garten’s recipes- I have never made a recipe that I didn’t love! The link about the different salts is great, as I have noticed that the biggest complaint people have with Ina’s recipes are that they are too salty. I bet she uses Diamond Kosher Salt!:-)
I love the link to the photo of Jacob, too. He just gets more and more adorable everyday! :-)
We are in the thick of tomato season here in the south and I have them overflowing in my kitchen now. I must make this dish! Sounds very similar to one that I make with okra added. Yum!
actually a surprising number of the people who work at the stands at the greenmarket live in the NYC area. i know because i work for one of them from time to time, and i live in manhattan. i was so amazed that people automatically thought i must know everything about growing tomatoes {i grew up in the city and can’t even keep a houseplant alive} that i promptly went around asking the other vendors where i buy my produce where they lived. brooklyn and queens, were the the most common answers.
even though it isn’t in the fields, working at the market certainly is hot, grueling,and very, very hard on your body. it also doesn’t pay very well. i do it because i’m thrilled to be a very small part of it, i have tremendous respect, affection and admiration for the woman i work for {franca tantillo of berried treasures, who grows the best berries and tomatoes i have ever eaten} and because it can be a lot of fun.
cybercita — Very interesting. I’m no expert but I thought there was a rule that the people selling had to actually work on the farms, and not just be, like salespeople. Nevertheless, I know many people in the city that would have also enjoyed the gig; I’m sure although more brutal, more satisfying than working at Whole Foods! Thanks for sharing.
moniQue — No, I meant tool.
Abbey and others concerned about “mush” — I realize in hindsight it’s better to view this as a balancing act than a recipe. Extra juicy tomatoes? You’ll either want a heartier bread or more of a regular one. Less juicy tomatoes? 2 cups of cubes from a fluffy loaf should be fine. In my case, I had extra wetness too but I had bought a round loaf of what I thought was French but turned out to be a light, full-of-large holes Italian loaf and it had barely any absorbing power. I’d say as long as you enjoy the recipe, keep playing around and you’ll get a better feel for the balance as you make it based on the bread and tomatoes you have.
this is the first meal i ever made in my old college apartment. i mean really, truly, actually cooked…not the frozen food re-heating that i usually did. i could afford the small list of ingredients and i knew there was no way i could screw this up. in my last apartment, the first meal i cooked led to the firemen being called….seriously. my parmesean chicken turned into blackened chicken and the whole building was evacuated. this recipe is delicious and refreshing and SO easy to make. i didn’t burn anything and no firemen were called. praise the lord. i can’t wait to try your adapted version! thank you for posting=)
Wow. Just – wow. This looks incredible. A perfect use for some of the 10 lbs. of FANTASTIC heirloom tomatoes I picked up at the farmer’s market this weekend!
Poached eggs make the world go round. Excellent addition.
Looks amazing. I will try this out this week, once I can get to the Farmer’s Market. Question, if serving as a side dish for dinner, what would you recommend as the main entree? What would go well with this?
I see what I’m having for dinner tonight!
I must have a try at this one. Our summer is late here this year (global warming?) but when the tomatoes come I’ll pick and try them.
I can hardly wait for my tomato crop to try this!
The heat is indeed brutal this summer but luckily the tomatoes seem to like it. I made BC’s (and Deb’s) bread salad last week and it was so very good. We’ll be eating this tomorrow. Stay cool!
This was lunch today. I spied this at 9am, dressed my own cute little goober in his hawaii shirt, and headed off to the store. (Because my own tomatoes aren’t ready yet!!!) By noon, I was eating this, and he was chomping on strained peas.
Our lives were made better by you today! Thanks!
MK and Buddy
So I’m thinking you should move to SoCal so you can have homegrown tomatoes all year long :)
Ahh, I see I’m not the only one who envies Ina’s barn kitchen. I have the perfect spot for one down off the hill from my house, now all I need is a TV show and the money that comes with it, so I can afford it!
This looks absolutely wonderful. I love baked tomatoes any way I can get them.
There is only one problem with this recipe. It’s too hot to turn on my oven. I kept using it and making our house unbearable. My husband put an embargo on using the oven, and even threatened to pull the plug!
I second the previous comment. It looks and sounds amazing. I can almost smell it and it’s making my mouth water. But, there is no way I’m turning my oven on. I’ll have to figure out a way to make it on the stove top.
Just this morning, I was lamenting about what to do with some cherry tomatoes we had left, but were starting to pucker. Check my mail this morning, and get the notification of this post. Yay! Just so happened there was some leftover bread in the form of a sub-type roll, so I knew I just had to try this recipe. I had to make a couple of changes since I didn’t have the full quantity of tomatoes called for in this recipe (a little less oil, a little less sugar, etc.) and also had to use dried basil since I didn’t have any fresh basil around, and the normal Kraft Parmesan in lieu of fresh…but I must say, it still turned out DELICIOUSLY! Seriously, it was very hard for me to stop eating it. I can’t wait to try it again with all the right ingredients. Thanks for the recipe!
If only I read your post yesterday! I bought 7 pounds of the most beautiful(and tiny!) tomatoes ever from the farmer’s market and the lady selling it said they made good tomato sauce/paste. Sigh….that’s what I did with all of them.
The next batch will definitely get the scalloped treatment…thank you for posting the recipe!
I’m right with you on the dying-from-the-heat thing. Sadly, I have basically boycotted cooking all summer because of it. I haven’t even been to the Union Square greenmarket to check out the tomatoes, but I’m dying for some of those jumbo yellow tomatoes.
I just made this and slipped a little diced zucchini in there too, since I am drowning in squash. It was DELICIOUS and we decided that it is sorta like tomato bread pudding, which simply cannot be a bad thing.
i made this tonight and it’s the bomb dot coooomm!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is cooking in my oven right now, and it’s all I can do not to open the oven and take out a spoonful. Yum. Thanks for the salt explanation, too. We tend to use more sea salt than kosher salt anyway, but it’s nice to have a primer on the conversion.
You totally inspired our dinner tonight.
Looks delicious, and exactly what I want… but it KILLS me because here in chilly ole Melbourne Australia, July is about as far from tomato season as you can get… I’m always out of synch with your recipes!
Ah well, another one for the files!
I’m a tomato junkie too, but a southern hemisphere one, so it’s the dead of winter and the tomatoes around are not the best, and you have the audacity to go posting something like this!
Thank you, though, it looks delightful!
I am speechless… and drooling
I just HAD to have this tonight so i convinced my kids brunch-for-dinner is as awesome as breakfast-for-dinner (which turns out to indeed be the case). This was as tasty as it looks in your photos and the smell: literally toe curling!
I live in rural GA where we farm and have so many ‘maters that any new recipe sounds good to me. I like this one.
One of my favorite foods during the summer is either a tomato sammich or creamed tomatoes over biscuits.
Gotta love the south.
See, I felt that way about an episode of ‘Ask Aida’ they aired on the Cooking Channel.. it was FABULOUS looking pumpkin risotto, and a lovely veggie pot pie– winter food at it’s coziest. And it’s almost 100 degrees here in the Midwest. It would be RIDICULOUS to make pot pie… right? Right? Oh, man. I’ll make the tomato stuff instead.
normally, i am ALL about the poached egginess.
but, i am in a breakfast club at work where someone can’t eat eggs (not vegan).
so far, everyone has been doing things like breakfast tacos and yogurt parfaits.
we have to bring everything ready to go, too, so my reheating options are limited.
i’m wondering if i could adapt this recipe to:
1) add a little sumthin’ like chopped proscuitto and/or a dollop of mild goat cheese
2) spoon it onto toasted bread to do a warm bruschetta (i would reduce the bread crumbs and slightly increase the parm to bind).
if i do try this, i will report back!
i’m also curious if this is slow-cookerable, if you brown everything first.
These look awesome! Re: winter tomatoes…one of my friends says ‘They don’t taste like tomatoes, but they kind of remind me of how tomatoes taste.’
I made this tonight for dinner, even though the bar exam is a mere week away, and I couldn’t be happier. It was melt-in-your-mouth delicious. I even think it would be okay cheating during the winter with canned tomatoes. But, today, with the fresh ones and fresh basil, nothing could have soothed my soul (and brain) better. Thanks, Deb!
Tried this tonight and *loved* it. I used a combination of Romano-Parmesean-Asagio cheese. I think that next time I’m going to use about half-cup of the Parmesean and half-cup of Mozzarella (or a meltier cheese — I found my Parm mix to be a bit too salty). I also might sautee up some onions and green peppers and then throw them in with the tomatoes.
A couple of people mentioned the mushiness of the bread — I kind of assumed that it was supposed to come out that way. Has anyone noticed that frying the bread for longer made it retain it’s crunchiness more? I figure that even toasted bread cannot combat the liquid in all those tomatoes.
But this will definitely become a staple in our house! Thanks for the great recipe!
Made this tonight. A. Maz. Ing. So friggin’ yummy. Thanks for sharing it.
It’s a baked panzanella!
And really, hot or cold, that ingredient combination just doesn’t get old! Especially when you can (read: should) only get it in summer.
Oh I am ALL over this! If it weren’t 9 am and I was at work, I’d already be on my way to the market!
What a fantastic idea! With the poached egg on top? Over-the-top delicious. I am the biggest complainer in the hot summer weather and always feel like such a wimp for darting into air-conditioned buildings at every turn.
This makes me wish I had an oven! Yummmmmm….
i do love a poached egg in the morning… pity my kitchen is being redone so the only cooking facility of note is the microwave :( it is food for thought though! :)
Rose x
This reminds me a lot of pappa al pomodoro, the tomato and bread soup/stew that is served warm or cold at the height of the tomato season in Tuscany. I have such great memories of stopping in a little trattoria for some pappa at least once a day… i felt the same way you do about this dish– tomatoes at their peak are so wonderful and delicious, and you don’t need to do much to them at all!
Annie
I have made this dish before……..and it is De-Lish! Ina is my “go-to” for a majority of my recipes, inspiration and creative impulses. I read this post and immediately started to recall how absolutely juicy and rich this side dish tasted. This one is a definite keeper and summer time must have while the tomatoes are at their peak.
I’m really not one to like raw tomatoes, or any tomatoes in real abundance, but this looks really good!
Pappa al pomodoro is in my top five list of favorite Italian dishes, but it’s hard to make outside of Tuscany because of the bread issue. Tuscans don’t put salt in their bread, which is why all those wonderful bread-soup-like recipes (like pappa al pomodoro and ribollita) work so well – the bread doesn’t get too mushy. But baking it for half an hour seem like a perfect solution! Now I can enjoy this delicious dish wherever! Thanks!
heirloom tomatoes…are they in the stores yet? I’ve only seen tomatoes on the vine and those aren’t very fun (and seem to be around all year).
duh…just read Steve’s comment. Two weeks!!
i’m head over heals for tomatoes this time of year. can’t get enuff!
Made this last night – EXCELLENT!
This looks great…especially with the egg on top.
I made this last night, it was sooo good! Heirloom tomatoes just went down to $2.19/lb at our local produce-friendly grocery store, so this was wonderful timing. I love how some of the bread got all soft, like bread pudding, while the bread on top stayed light and crunchy. It was so easy to make, and tasted great with vegetarian sausage on the side. I even whipped up some scrambled eggs (don’t like poached) and mixed in some of the leftovers this morning. Astoundingly good idea :)
Yum yum yum. I am one of those people that gripe about the lack of tomatoes until tomatoes come. One of the best parts of summer, by far. There is a farmer near us that grows them hothouse throughout the year, and they’re still better than any you can find anywhere else, so if you’re DYING for a tomato in December, at least he’s there…but still, it’s not the same.
I am with you, absolutely love summer tomatoes! And, Ina Garten’s recipes are known for being hearty and scrumptious. I also got inspired by the tomatoes at the store the other day and made a delicious dessert with them: Sweet Cherry Tomato Pocket Pies. If you’re interested in the recipe, check out my blog: http://gypsyrhapsody.wordpress.com/2010/07/20/sweet-cherry-tomato-pocket-pies/
And here I was, waiting patiently for good summer tomatoes to make your Roasted Tomatoes and Cipollini recipe from last summer! Now, I am completely conflicted.
…but of course you ate it with a poached egg on top…lol
I want to make this for a dinner party tomorrow night. problem is that the dinner party starts at 7.30 and I get off work at 7pm! Does anyone know whether I can cook it tonight and then simply rewarm it in the oven tomorrow night? does that work? would it make it too soggy?
help!
This looks amazing! Love you blog…Just bookmarked it! :)
i went to the farmers market today in greensboro, nc and loaded up on tomatoes especially for this dish. i added fresh zucchini and onions and doubled the garlic (i loooove garlic) and my roommate says its the best meal she’s had in a long time. thanks!!
Just cooked it. Whoa. That is all.
I like the idea of leftovers w. poached eggs! yum!
Deb I made this the day you posted it and it was AMAZING!!!! Absolutely perfect summer dish, and super easy (I even prepped this ahead of time so I could throw it together last minute). The hubs and I recently became “Monday through Friday Vegetarians” so this fit into our diet perfectly You should defiantly put a disclaimer on here about making a double batch because it’s THAT good. Also, I had a hard time fitting the bread and tomatoes all in one saute dish, so I’d advise people to use the biggest one they have or even a large stock pot. Thanks again Deb (and ilovejacob!)
This looks amazing! I have a question about your kitchen tools though. I’ve been searching high and low for conical glass bowls just like the ones you show in this post. Where did you find them??????
Jenna — I mention them with a slew of links where they can possibly be purchased (I say “possibly” because I was informed they’re not being made anymore but if you scroll down in the comments, you’ll see that people routinely pop in to say they found them in one store or another… I bet you will too) in this post.
Well, I went and made this tonight and holy mother of Pearl, was that good. I had some asiago/fontina/parm shreds and some grated locatelli so that was what I sprinkled on top. So, so good. Halfway between bruschetta and pizza, chunky, bready, tomatoey, cheesy, soft and juicy and crunchy and chewy, all at once.
Pardon me, I have to go worship that casserole dish for a moment.
Delicious! I had the mushy problem that many folks had, but your common sense solution of balancing the amount of bread and tomatoes and their juice sounds just right. The flavor is fantastic, and it’s one of those things that while baking one wishes one could eat the air. Thanks for the link to the dishes.
I made this tonight and it was fantastic! Having read about people’s mush problems, I modified the cooking slightly and wound up with something that had perfect consistency — soft and pliant, but still with distinguishable bread chunks in it… Here’s what I did…
1) Toasted the bread cubes (used 4 slices of a sourdough loaf) and removed it from the pan.
2) Then sauteed the garlic in a little olive oil, added the tomatoes, and cooked them down on their own for 5 minutes.
3) At the end of that time, I added one slice of untoasted bread (cubed), and let that basically mush into the tomato juices, thickening them.
4) Then I poured that tomato mix over the toasted cubed bread in the baking dish and stirred to combine. The result was a perfect consistency — no over juiciness or mushiness!
I just finished my second helping of this and am trying to resist a third (likely to be unsuccessful). I added some lumps of fresh mozzarella on top. Thank you – it is delicious! Random side note – I recently met Ina at the Fancy Food Show at her Barefoot Contessa booth – she was very gracious and I was impressed that she actually there.
I made this last night for my boyfriend and two other friends, and it was gobbled up in no time. Next time, I better double (or maybe triple?) the recipe. I served it with toasted garlic bread, and it made a lovely almost bruschetta. Delicious?
Just made this, and it was WONDERFUL. Thanks! :)
Just finished devouring this and it was soooooo good! I followed the recipe exactly and my bread tasted like the topping on eggplant parmesan. In fact the whole thing reminded me of what the top of really, really good eggplant parmesan tastes like. I had several servings and have to say I liked it even better barely warm over hot. The tastes were more apparent once it cooled a little. Love it!!!
Oh my goodness, Deb, I made this tonight, and boy was it a hit! (And I even … wait for it … FORGOT THE GARLIC. How does that even happen???)
Mine was super liquidy and the bread was mushy, but you know what? I really liked it that way. Next time (and oh, will there be a next time) maybe I’ll try draining a little juice off my tomatoes, but I won’t be bothered if it comes out exactly the same way again. Delicious! Thanks for another gem!
i just finished eating this for dinner. i made it with whole wheat bread and canned cherry tomatoes from buon italia, because that’s what i had. i also sliced up some fresh mozzarella on top. it was a total keeper!
oh my, that looks summery and amazing.
I just made this on the fly for dinner and it was *wonderful*! My husband thought I was hero! Thanks, Deb!
This was amazing. Amazing. Or, as my husband said, “Awesomesauce.”
A few notes: 1) I left crusts on, and worked fine 2) still mushy, but who cares? 3) forgot basil, so it wasn’t sublime but merely amazing and 4) halved the kosher salt and still very, very salty (but I think it was my parm, which was the Trader Joe’s preshredded because it’s what I had and I needed to make this immediately).
This is my new go-to summer dish. So many thanks.
I riffed on this tonight – sourdough bread, cilantro, and pepper jack were in my fridge. I toasted cumin seeds in butter and used that to start the bread toasting. It was delicious! Next time I want to add some spinach, too.
I made this just for me last night and savoured it for lunch today and am looking forward to it for lunch tomorrow. I’ll have to make another batch so my husband can get a taste. Absolutely delish! (I used what was available bread wise which was half french baguette and half oatmeal toasting bread and left the crusts on). I only used 1 tsp of my kosher salt and it was perfect…Thanks so much for the recipe. I haven’t had much luck with Ina’s recipes unless you’ve pretested them for me..wierd. And Jacob is still the cutest!
I just made this tonight, it was AMAZING!!!!! My whole family was raving! Just reading it, I knew that I would love it because of all the cooked tomatoes and basil, but I was so pleased when my family loved it as well. I also made the dreamy creamy scones for dessert (even though they’re really a breakfast/brunch food). YUM!!!!
Thanks for always being the best blog with the best recipes. I know I can always count on SmittenKitchen!
it looks delicious, especially with a good layer of cheese
I made this last night for dinner and the bread soaked up all the juice from the tomatoes and became one big mushy mess. I suggest using very rustic bread or even the bread that you have lying around for a week, and maybe even draining some of the tomato juice before mixing it with the croutons. Other than that, it was still pretty good, I’ll attempt to recreate it when my bread dries up a little. Thanks for the recipe, this is a great blog :)
I don’t know if this will beat Gourmet’s tomato bread pudding, but I’ll give it a chance!
Deb, GRAZIE!!! I made this on monday as soon as I had read it. Thank you thank you I loved it so much! They don’t air Ina here in Italy and so I’ve never had the chance to try any of her recipes. I loved this!! To be honest I am a bit lazy :) and didn’t even de-crusted the bread (used normal italian paninis diced). Of course no kosher salt in my kitchen ;) . I want to try it also with some lovely grilled aubergines, will let you know! Thanks a lot again!
This looks amazing and I can’t wait to try it!
Made it. And then ate the whole thing. By myself.
I had no parmesan so I used mild white cheddar and topped it with slices of fresh mozzarella, and yes, maybe that’s weird, but it was AMAZING. Thanks!!
i am so making this. maybe this weekend with farmers market tomatoes? yes, please!
Deb, I just have to say I love your directive to Trust The Ina. In Ina I trust, for sure. She has never led me astray either. Making this soon. Thanks for sharing!
I made this last night for a dinner party to go along with chicken piccata. This is probably the best dish I have ever had. So easy too! Def something that I will make again and again and again!!
Made this with leftover sourdough bread, crust included, and mozzarella. DELISH! Am making it again tonight for guests. Thanks for the recipe.
this is the best thing I’ve eaten all summer….so far. completely wonderful….
I made this for dinner last night just hours after our CSA pickup yielded a gorgeous pile of heirlooms! It was a delightful, surprisingly rich meal and wilted my huge haystack of springmix for a perfect warm crunch. I didn’t even cut the crust off my bread, just chopped up a bagette, poured a glass of red, and went to town! Thanks for the recipe – can’t wait for leftovers tonight!
I made this over the weekend. It was yummy. A little sweet – maybe I was a smidge heavy-handed with the sugar – but yummy. I love the combination. I’ll be blogging about it this coming weekend!
I made this last night and it was gorgeous! I never would have added the sugar without your encouragement, so thank you!
Deb, I’ve not laughed so much, on my own, at my ktichen table, as I have reading this recipe and your comments. Not for very long time. Truly. Weeping. Wet-faced. I will definitely be returning. This is food as it should be: aspirational, inspirational, humane and spirited. Thank you. With all my heart. Sniff.
I just found this recipe today, just after having bought a huge basket of tomatoes (the kind that look ugly and misshapen but are beyond sweet and delicious). This was perfect! I can’t wait to try your leftover idea; my husband and I are big fans of a poached egg to finish off a dish and make it a meal. Thank you for your inspiring and truly workable recipes! ps – I made your oatmeal cookies yesterday and they were great, too!
Just made this, and it’s AMAZING. Just perfection. Thank you!
I made this tonight – the taste was fabulous, but it ended up pretty soupy – I’m not sure if I needed more bread or what. I’ll have to play around with it a little more.
Ina ain’t never lied! I made this tonight and it was beyond delicious. In fact, it was so delicious, before I even put it in the oven I wasn’t sure it was even going to make it to the oven. Thank you so much for the recipe!
I have been making something similar to this for years. I started off with a tomato gratin from Julia Child but I love the mixture of bread cubes instead of crumbs. Im going to make this again, but will add the sugar as suggested. It can only make it better. This is my favorite thing to eat in the summer (other than fried green tomatoes — yum).
I made this last night and it was delicious but too sweet, the sugar drowned out some of the other flavours. I would definitely leave it out next time, and maybe add some red wine vinegar for more a tart flavour.
Made this for dinner the other night and had the leftovers for lunch yesterday. It was AMAZING!!!! Thank you for another fabulous recipe!
Made this for supper last night (topped with the recommended poached egg) and it was divine. Since it’s such a cozy dish I know I’d love it in the dead of winter, but like you, I fear the winter tomato. Would canned whole tomatoes work? Or am I asking for trouble?
i literally drooled reading this recipe. wtf, you’ve amazed me again. fucking yummmmmmmm.
yes please and thanks.
xx,
Christina
My garden is producing about 10 pounds of tomatoes a day (it’s possible I went slightly overboard in planting, but sometimes they don’t all make it!) and made this for a dinner party last night – doubling the recipe so I’d be sure to have leftovers. Every single guest asked for the recipe.
I made it basically as you did, but did squeeze seeds out of some of the really juicy ones. And I didn’t take the crusts off, because I didn’t read carefully, and also just tossed the basil in with everything else, also due to lack or reading carefully. Also baked it early – not for the full cooking time, and put it back in the oven for about 15 minutes to finish it up. Absolutely perfect. And my favorite part is that I didn’t have to peel the tomatoes. I get very tired of peeling tomatoes.
Deb, I have the same question as a previous commenter–would this freeze well? I have friends who just had twins and i’d like to load them up with some freezable meals–something tells me you have lots of insight into what would work!
Yum, that was so good we made it twice. We lazily skipped a couple of details, which led to these learnings:
1. Get the bread good and toasty. Not lightly whisper toasted, but crunchy crispy.
2. Don’t skip adding the tomato mixture to the pan for 5 minutes. This really seemed to help with the moisture issue.
3. A little splash of balsamic when you add the basil is a nice touch.
Oh darn it! Where was this recipe last week when I needed to get rid of all those tomatoes that were stuffed in my fridge?! Oh wells, one day…
Made this for dinner tonight with the first of the season fresh picked tomatoes off my 2 plants in pots on the balcony. ****Awesome!!!***** Added some sliced green onions that needed to be used. Can’t wait for breakfast tomorrow now! Next batch of tomatoes to ripen go into last summer’s tomato-corn pie recipe. Thanks, Deb, everything I make from your posts turns out excellent!
Can this be slow cooked in a crock pot?
I made this last night and it was absolutely divine. We had it with a poached egg and a green salad…yum. My only question is, how would you suggest making this even more hearty? Only 3 people ate this (entire!) dish and some people were still hungry afterwards. Any suggestions?
The weather has been so bad in Seattle, and tomatoes are finally ready! This will be a great summer recipe.
I’d love to make this, do you think I could use croutons (homemade – baked with penzey’s sandwich sprinkle) instead of the bread? My guess is yes, but would love an opinion!!!
I will have to try this, and I bet since it is cooked, even those sup-bar winter tomatoes would be elevated to somewhere near divine.
As soon as I saw this recipe I knew I had to try it – and last night I finally did! The flavor was absolutely amazing, but the bread turned to absolute mush :/ Any suggestions on how to keep the bread a bit crispy through the whole process? My tomatoes were SUPER juicy, so I will definitely drain them a bit next time, but other than that, suggestions?
I made this with some tomatoes that were just okay but not ideal, and I had some basil on hand but not as much as the recipe called for, and still this was so wonderful that I’m already thinking about having the leftovers for dinner. It’s going to become a must-have for me, with whatever tomatoes I can get my hands on.
Now I wish I had bought tomatoes at the farmers’ market today! I may have to make a special trip this week to a roadside stand :-). This looks wonderful and nutritious.
My husband arrived home from his grandparents’ house yesterday with a brown bag full of garden-fresh tomatoes. I just knew you would have the perfect recipe for them. Thanks!
Just threw this in the oven. Can’t wait til it’s done!!
hooray!! My all-boy family won’t stop complaining when I make bruschetta for dinner- “this isn’t a dinner”, they say – but this looks like my favorite meal in disguise. If it came from the oven, they will be fooled.
made this tonight. smelled divine. nice light summer meal. it got somewhat mushy, even though we toasted the heck out of the croutons and left the tomatoes in with the croutons on the stove for longer than directed. all in all, good not great.
Made this tonight – yum! I added extra bread since my tomatoes were very juicy and cooked a little bit longer. Perfect. Can’t wait to have this again!
I tried this tonight! My tomatoes were extra juicy and I think the bread I used was a little too airy so I ended up with more juice than I desired, but the taste was awesome! My parents and DH loved it too! Luckily, this is one of those recipes that you could play with depending on the juiciness of the tomatoes, the density of the bread, and personal preference. I served it with The Baked Chicken Meatballs from this website and a nice romaine salad.
Holy Moly…I haven’t taken this out of the oven yet, but what I tasted as I was putting it into the pan…oh my…you may have created a monster!
Okay, I’m back. I feel like I’ve been on a tomato bender and I need to get myself to a Tomatoes Anonymous meeting now. Crickey! This dish is fabulous! It has all the goodness of tomatoes and bread, but all mushed together, how could that be bad?
We’ve got a ton of heirloom Cherokee Purples right now so I used those, and toasted my French boule, which I’ve never done before. I think it’s impossible to get the toasted bread cubes to remain at all “toasty” once they’re mixed with the tomatoes, but I wonder, could you use high quality bread cube (like for stuffing) instead of freshly made cubes? Would that keep the bread consistency a bit crispier? I’m sure some of it would sop up the tomato juices but maybe some bits would remain a bit crispy for those that prefer it less mushy (for the record, I’m all for mush).
Tuscan bread salad baked into cheesy goodness? I don’t know how you made it from the winter. Our farm share doesn’t arrive with our tomatoes until Wednesday and I think I might not make it.
Ok. I picked a ridiculously large amount of yellow pears from the garden earlier and just happened to look at Smitten and voila! I have dinner plans. I wonder if I should mix in some reds since the pears are so, so sweet? Hmm. I’ll try it and see.
I LOVED this! It was perfect for a light summer meal (if only I hadn’t defeated the purpose and eaten half out of the saute pan….). I threw a shake of red pepper flakes in, just enough to give it a subtle kick–it was really good. But I think I’ll leave it out next time just see what it tastes like. Still full, and looking forward to tomorrow with a poached egg!
made this tonight! yum. can’t wait to eat it with an egg in the morning!
I think that you could toss some eggplant in with the tomato and that would be great too. If you wanted to beef it up even more.
Made this for lunch yesterday during a day of chores, we stood around eating it between sweeping and tending to the garden and making the bed and laundry etc.
It really was delicious and, though I feel guilty for this, delightfully un-fresh-vegetably, in that it really imitated the texture of perfect gnocci.
Thanks for bringing this one back and better.
I made this today for a family dinner with my parents. Wow – what a hit! It was incredibly delicious even though it was a bit soupy since I skimped on the bread (here in Alaska our tomatoes are often not that great and we were concerned they wouldn’t be juicy enough). Also, my parents had said they had parm already so I didn’t buy any. Let me tell you, parm that has been sitting in the fridge for over a year is awfully difficult to grate! So we skimped a bit on the cheese but still got a great golden-brown and bubbly crust. We served it along with a simple zucchini saute (sweet onion, garlic, & basil), green salad with lettuce from the garden, and some roast garlic to start. It was the perfect warm, summery meal for cheering up a cold, rainy day. Next up? Attempting to poach eggs for breakfast leftovers!
Made this last night, sooo good, Thanks!
I made this last night and it was a hit, even with my tomato hating boyfriend. I served it with a couple of poached eggs and a slice of bread to soak up the juices after. I’m eating leftovers as I type this and it’s still wonderful but I’m noticing how sweet it is. I’ll probably use less sugar next time.
The whole fam LOVED this recipe, which will be a staple in our house this summer with all of those wonderful tomatoes.
Thanks for another great recipe!
Beautiful. Thank you for the inspiration. I am a vegetarian, but my boyfriend is not. Do you think he would consider this a satisfying main course?
Tonight was the fifth time I made this since you posted it. Am now an expert at the tweaks we like best (exactly how much Kosher salt with this bottle is enough, how toasty to get the bread). Even the experiments? Unbelievably yummy. Love love love love love love this. Thank you.
Amazing stuff. Made it tonight for dinner with tomatoes from the grocery (here in the north we’re a little behind on tomatoes, maybe in a couple of weeks) and it was to die for. A little soupy, but nothing a light straining, some extra cooking and some more bread won’t fix. I plopped a couple of poached eggs on each serving and my husband said it was the best thing he’s eaten in a while. Fabulous!
Awesome! Added a touch of balsolmic vinegar to the croutons after toasting. Added that something extra.
I am sharing this recipe with everyone. I call it incredibly simple, insanely delicious. Going back for seconds… :)
Wow… just made this tonight. I only baked it for about 20 minutes, then scooped onto salmon filets topped with olive oil, sliced garlic & fresh basil. Then, wrapped up the filets in foil and cooked it all together. I thought it was fantasic. However, the hubby very graciously thanked me, but requested a big bowl of the tomatoes without anything else next time. My remark “I shouldn’t mess with Deb’s recipes!” got the strangest look… he is wondering who the heck Deb is all the time.
I love Ina, but don’t you ever wonder if she’s heavily sedated? Perhaps she’s od’d on ritalin? I mean she could use that calm tone to say, “today, I murdered my sister’s husband with the pointy end of a hair comb and threw his bloody corpse down a well and now I’m slicing a peach,” and it would take me three or four minutes to actually have it register in my head. Oh! Great post. I’m making this! – Gary
I’m going back for fourths! And, I’m hiding the rest of it so no one else can enjoy it but me. That makes it taste even better! And, when none of the rest of them can have it and are whining little, well, whining, anyway – that’s right, I’m going to have some more with a poached egg on top! Wow! Yum! Let’s all get together and kill Gary, later, kays?
I made this today and it was heavenly. We have a big garden and my counters are covered with tomatoes – so it was scalloped tomatoes for lunch and then a huge batch of roasted ones I canned up later. Thank you so much – my husband couldn’t stay out of the casserole dish. :)
I made this and while the flavor and aroma were wonderful, I am one of those commentors who are picky about texture and found it too mushy, even with the bread toasty and crispy on the top.
I made this this weekend and it was amazing. Truly wonderful and so easy. Everything I’ve made from your site has been truly wonderful. Thanks for always giving me something to cook. And if I could, request you keep up with lots of vegetarian (and maybe even Vegan) recipes as I’m a recent convert.
Thanks!
One of my new favorite things to do with tomatoes! It was great as a side dish, but we loved it even more with eggs the next day. And the day after that. And the day after that.
I saw this too and have been DYING to try it! I am so glad that now I know it tastes as good as it looks! :)
I just landed up with some durum wheat bread that I don’t much care for – I’ve got to try this!
I made this the other night with our first Roma tomatoes from the garden and it was delish. Next time I think I’ll lower the sugar to 1T. I always add sugar to my tomato sauce, but this was just a bit sweet for me. I ended up using the leftovers last night as a topping on homemade pizza dough – very fine as well.
Hi! First LOVING your site. I am fairly new to domestic goodness but everything I have made from yours site has gotten rave reviews and bolstered my confidence….THANK YOU! Second, thank you for making food blogging a little splashy. The sites are usually a bit too boring and dry for me, and your humor, honesty is refreshing. Last, but oh-so-not least, I made this dish on Saturday evening and my fiancé and I just died for it. We ate half for dinner and half for lunch the next day. We could not believe how easy and amazing it was. I used heirloom tomatoes and they were delicious. Thank you, thank you thank you again!
My stomach is stuffed with this tomato dish! I used 4 cups of bread because my tomatoes were EXTREAMLY juicy. My bread was still very moistened. I also used fresh oregano instead of basil because my basil plant just won’t put out. =/ Make this!
I made this dish last week and it was awesome! Home grown tomatoes, fresh local bread and fresh herbs made this stand out. I added a minced shallot, I left the crust on the bread ( between 3 and 4 cups) and used a little extra parm. I would suggest to all who make this to let it cool for 20 minutes or so. Serve it warm, room temp or cold the next day. It will hold together, thicken a bit and the flavor will concentrate immensely if you follow this step. This was truly one of the best tomato dishes I’ve ever made. Thanks!
Excuse my language, but SHUT THE FRONT DOOR this was amazing. Served it last night to friends with the poached egg on top and asparagus on the side. I used a little extra parm on top and the crusty edges were fantastic. I’ll definitely be making this again. And again. And again. Thank you!
I made this today for lunch and ended up having it again for dinner with a side of eggs!
What beautiful flavors! My Roma tomatos were perfect with skin on and juice to bread ratio.
I did end up covering the dish with foil with about 15 mins cooking time to go as the Parmesan was already browning well and tomato mixture bubbling.
My three year old loved stiring the mixture and she picked all the basil leaves for me too!
Thank you for two wonderful meals.
Katie
Firstly: I ADORE your site. Holy moly.
Secondly: I ADORE this recipe. Like, amagad. I just made a vegan version of this (sans cheese and with apple cider vinegar) and chhhhhaaaaa it was excellent! I hope you don’t mind that I put up the version on my blog! I give credit where credit is due, of course. :) I think I will try vegan-izing some of your other creations.
My love note to you is now complete.
-Vegan Zombie.
I’ve made this four times since you first posted it. I’m an addict. It’s becoming a problem. I dedicated a whole post to it on my own blog (not even a food blog). Why, oh why, does tomato season have to end?
I made this for dinner tonite and wow! It was delicious, sweet savory goodness! YUM!
holy moley. this recipe is freakin unreal. it is like Trenton-style Tomato Pie in casserole form. thank you thank you thank you thank you! i will make it every doggone day until tomato season is over. thank you Smitty!
I made this llast night for guests……it was the star of the show – absolutely delicious and light and summer in a bowl! I used quartered grape tomatoes as I have them coming out my ears from the garden. Thank you!
Wonderful recipe. I made this last night with a variety of local heirlooms. Perhaps the heirlooms just bake sweeter, but I’d cut the sugar by 25-50%. It was just a tad sweet.
Served with a simple arugula salad. Made my night.
Just made this with my Farmer’s Market loot! Added some chicken so I wouldn’t hear from Tim, “Smells great. So..what’s for dinner?” and added artichoke hearts because I could. Will never eat tomatoes out of season ever AGAIN.
Just made this and polished half of it off by myself. Halved the sugar because the heirloom tomatoes I used were quite sweet; left the tomato skins on; and used about 3 cups of bread. Absolutely loved it and will definitely make it again. I’m thinking white beans would be a nice addition. Thanks for the great recipe!
Am currently in the process of making this for the second time and sadly found my fresh basil not so fresh (belly up, really). I am going to add 2T of dried basil and see how that goes… Any suggestions?
Love the idea of aubergines and/or zucchini that some have mentioned that they have, or would like to add to this dish. And pairing it with a stir fry of zucchini, etc. also sounds wonderful.
I have a garden full of veggies just waiting to be introduced to this dish. :)
Am also curious about freezing this dish…
Actually, 1T of dried basil seemed a little better idea. It’s baking now… Smells like a little bit of heaven around here!
Can I say OMG! enough? I think not.
I have made this twice already, and find myself lamenting the time that bountiful garden tomatoes will be no more… but for now I am in love!
I always knew that I loved tomatoes in their sumptuous fresh raw state during peak summer months, but this dish has added a new dimension to that love affair!
Wow – you cannot go wrong with this baked treasure. Tomatoes of all colors (the more – the merrier) and fresh basil are a winning combo. Eaten with just some crusty bread is heavenly; and eaten with sliced and roasted white, russet and blue potatoes with olive oil and sea salt adds fun colors and more yumminess. De-Lish!
Stop me!
Keep it postin’, girl! You rock!
Mere words cannot possibly describe the deliciousness of this dish. Summer simplicity at it’s best. Suffice it to say that people have cried over less. Served it as a side dish, ate the measly leftovers the following day. Good on all accounts. I have to say, I changed the procedure a bit b/c I had to prepare in advance. Toasted the bread and set it aside, then cooked the tomato/garlic/sugar combo a few minutes, turned off the heat, tossed on the basil and set it aside too. Just before baking, I added the croutons to the room temp tomato mixture, poured into the baking dish, topped w/parm (could have used a bit more IMHO) and baked. The rest is magic.
If only you could try Greek summer tomatoes. Heaven. I ate them every day for over a month while I was there. No vinegar. Just salt and oil. It’s really crazy how GOOD tomatoes are when they are good!
I made this tonight and it was much more delicious than I thought it would be! Great recipe after all! Thank you for sharing it with us!
P.S: I have to agree with travesti from the above comment. Greek summer tomatoes are ….just …eehh…heaven! Totally!!
Made this tonight and am typing with my mouth full! It’s a really delicious way to showcase local summer tomatoes. Mine were fairly acidic so I found the amount of sugar in the recipe just right. Recently tried and failed to make potato bread, so I was grateful to see a recipe needing plenty of croutons! Thank you.
made this for dinner tonight – omfg.
my dream recipe.
O.M.G. I’m in heaven!! This truly taste amazing! So glad I stumbled upon this recipe.
How would you recommend re-heating?
We made this recipe tonight with our bounty of fresh New Jersey heirloom tomatoes and basil. I can’t eat raw tomatoes, and this was the perfect way for me to be able to enjoy our beautiful harvest. Thanks so much!
As a cooking novice, there is almost nothing better than my husband giving me the “you made this?!” look . : ) Thanks for the wonderful recipe! It’s already made it to the *favorites* list.
Can the scalloped tomato recipe be frozen? If so, what is the best way to thaw and reheat it?
Deb, did you see the Tomato Tart Tatin in this month’s Bon Appetit? It looks amazing and like it would be right up your alley!
I bookmarked this when it was posted and finally the beautiful tomatoes are coming in so made it this weekend. A major hit.
Another tick in the “mush” column. I wish I had read the comments more thoroughly before making this – I only used half a boule, but could have easily used the entire thing. I think there’s a reason Ina calls for plum tomatoes – they have less moisture. Next time, I will probably salt and drain my tomatoes first. It was still tasty, just very… wet. I pureed the leftovers and I think they’ll work well as a pasta sauce.
I made this for one reason: to have for breakfast with a poached egg on top. But I took it to a dinner party last night and it was a hit (although, thankfully, there was enough left over for my breakfast). I used olive bread for the croutons. The sugar reminded me that we sugared our tomatoes when I was growing up; the egg/tomato combo reminded me that we had ketchup on our scrambled eggs. I can’t wait to serve it for brunch someday for a small group.
I’ve made this recipe twice since it was posted and love the taste both times, but had much better luck with the texture the second time. I bought a garlic baguette (because you really can’t have too much garlic) at the store that comes half baked and finished baking it at home so I could control the “toughness” of the bread. This is a sharp contrast to the way-too-soft-and-airy bread I used the first time around. I used Juliet tomatoes (basically miniature romas) the second time around the consistency actually turned out like a casserole, not like the stew consistency I ended up with the first time when I used large, extra juicy tomatoes.
I will make this at some point for brunch just so I can make poached eggs for friends to devour on top. That is, quite simply, the best way to enjoy this dish. As I enjoy breakfast for dinner, I made poached eggs twice so I could eat up every bit of the leftovers.
Thank you for introducing me to one of my new favorite dishes!
Do you think this could be made with cornbread?
It might fall apart, but it’s definitely worth trying if you’ve got a sturdy batch.
It’s been a smitten kitchen week for me this week – first this and then the grape focaccia tonight. This dish was INCREDIBLE. I hate poached eggs but found that this with hardboiled eggs, with the yolks taken out and using the egg whites as a scoop for the hot tomato goodness, was PERFECTION. Yum yum yummmm!
I made this recipe tonight from freshly picked basil, tomatoes and bread baked this morning. Everything about it was perfect. Instead of French bread I substituted with Portuguese bread, which absorbs insanely well, while retaining it’s form. It gave the bread, once it was cooked, almost a gnocchi taste and feel. Light, fluffy, but packed with flavours from the tomatoes and basil. And I cannot say enough about the smells of having all these fresh ingredients in the house and then letting them do their magic in the oven. Ah! It was heaven! I can’t wait for the egg on it tomorrow morning!
I used about 3-4 cups of bread both times and I LOVED IT!
This recipe is divine… and I agree, shame on them for running this on Food Network when there were no good tomatoes! The fresh farmer’s market tomatoes I used were perfect. My friends and I DEVOURED it :) Thanks for posting Ina’s recipe!
I am a vegetarian and I serve vegetarian food at my work place and home as well. My employees have adopted to turn vegetarian and I must thank you ffor sharing this receipe with me. I rtried this out for my team and home and they all loved it. As mentioned by Kristin, it is absolutely divine
Kristin is right, Prakash is right-absolutely divine!!!And I don’t like any baked style tomatoes!! Can’t get enought!!!Thanks for helping me come up using more of my heirlooms!
I made this last night, and it is sooo amazing! It’s a breeze to make, barely uses any ingredients, and it’s absolutely packed with flavour. It’s a perfect dish.
I just made this. I used 2-day old hard bread, cut it into cubes (crust on) and followed the rest of the recipe to a T. It came out FANTASTIC. Maybe just a little too salty, but I think that’s because the cheese that I sprinkled on top has a slightly salty taste as well. Next time, I will just cut the salt in half. Thanks for the recipe.
Curse you! I have now made this recipe four times…and I’m still salivating over it. Let’s just say the first time I made it, no one else even tasted it. I ate every single last delicious morsel. Then, I made another one. And another. Obsession, thy name is Scalloped Tomatoes with Croutons.
I am new to your site and am in love! This is the first of your recipes I made…..and, WOW. I was salivating while reading the recipe and went to the farmers market yesterday to get delicious, fresh, ripe tomatoes (I used a variety of heirlooms and plum), fragrant basil, and a yummy sourdough boule. The only change I made was replacing the sugar with some local honey. It was AMAZING. Haha…I ate the entire thing myself in 2 days! Thanks a lot, your recipes and photographs are fantastic. Can’t wait to try more!
I’ve made this a bunch of times after I saw Ina do it…it is really, really incredible. I grow basil in my kitchen so I love using my own fresh herbs, too. Totally recommend!!! It’s an amaaaazing recipe.
My tomato plant is still going crazy with fruit so this was the perfect recipe. I used sourdough and thought the taste was great. However, my bread was really soft and even though I browned it quite well, the texture was a bit soft in the end product. Honestly, I didn’t mind it that much because the dish was so flavorful. Next time I might consider draining some of the juice from the tomatoes and also toasting the bread in the oven in addition to pan frying it as many suggested in the comments on Ina’s page.
this may be a stupid question, but how do you poach your eggs?? they look way more delicious than the way i poach mine!
I have poaching tips over here.
Hands down this is one of the top 5 best things I’ve EVER tasted! I’m a tomato freak though so I’m sure that has something to do with it. The flavor was so incredible, every bite was like an explosion of happiness in my mouth! Sounds cheesy I know, but I was grinning like a fool with each bite. It captured the flavor of sun-dried tomatoes without all the oil and well none of the dry part! This was way worth all the chopping and I will make this again and again for the rest of my life I’m sure! I can’t thank you enough for this recipe! Ok I’ll try. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! :D
Okay, I must confess, the only bread I had in my apartment when I made this at 1am was a package of saltine crackers. But my tomatoes were farm fresh cherry tomatoes, and this just made for the BEST midnight meal ever.
Karen — I absolutely love that you made this with Saltines.
simple but delicious recipe. Great for a hot summer day like today. Refreshingly straightforward and delicious.
I’ve had this bookmarked since last summer, and I’m about to go to the farmers market today in search of some worthy tomatoes. I’m always hesitant to cook an amazing tomato, as I’d usually eat it raw with a sprinkle of salt and pepper, but this looks (and sounds) too good to pass up. And I feel ya on the tomato thing – those “tomatoes” they sell during the winter should just be called something else. They’re cardboard likenesses of their summer counterparts!
Yum! I don’t like too many dishes so I just brushed the sliced bread with olive oil, toasted in the preheating oven, then cut it up/mix with tomato and bake.
It is delicious, altho I think I like mozzarella cheese better than parm, then it would be like a margarita pizza =P
I took a lazy egg step and cracked several across the top of the dish and baked them–EXCELLENT decision. With the egg on top of cheese (I also did half mozzarella half parmesan) you can’t really tell which is which, and it’s phenomenal. Way to plant seeds!
Never reviewed a recipe before, but this was so great I was compelled! My bread was probably a little too fresh, and I could’ve cooked the croutons a little more, but omg, really?? Can simplicity taste this good?? This was just bursting with freshness in my mouth! And my hubby loved it too. We’re lucky enough to live in rural NJ (no reality shows here!!) so fresh veggies are everywhere, and we are truly spoiled and blessed. The two of us are fighting over the teeny bit of leftovers for lunch tomorrow!
And those things they sell during winter?? They should be called “faux-matoes” not tomatoes!! Thank you so much!
I’ve made this three times so far this summer and each iteration is better than the last. Using 1 T sugar (try it with demerara/raw sugar! it’s really excellent) and 1 tsp salt tasted best to me. I had some green zebra tomatoes lying around this time and their tartness balanced out the sugar well. And sturdy and slightly stale multigrain bread fared much better texturewise than a regular old baguette. Thanks!
fantastic! made this last night. subbed out half the tomatoes for zucchini but still fantastic! thanks!
Have made this twice in the last week. Followed the recipe to a T the first time and it was glorious though I used pepper jack instead of parmesan since I did not have any. For the second time, I doubled everything but the sugar and also incorporated some sauteed kale and used sharp cheddar for the top. So good! Excited for the leftovers today for lunch. Thanks Deb and Ina!!
This was amazing. Could eat it again and again. Too bad tomato season pretty much ended like, last week.
Now that Halloween is passed, we are gearing up for Thanksgiving. At work we started talking about what we were cooking and I said that this recipe is a new staple at our (groaning) table. Even if it is not so wonderful with non-summer tomatoes, it is still way better than a sharp stick in the eye! I am a dentist, and our patient wanted the recipe, too! We love this yummy recipe!!
This was amazing. Could eat it again and again. Too bad tomato season pretty much ended like, last week.
This recipe is divine and perfect! I came here looking for something different to do with my abundant tomato crop, and here it is! I planted six San Marzano bushes this year, and they just keep producing like crazy. I have eight bags of peeled, cored tomatoes in the freezer, just waiting for the onions, bell peppers and jalapenos to be ready.
It’s destiny I tell ya…my chickens just started laying day before yesterday, so I have four yard eggs to poach for dinner. Perfect! Thanks Deb :)
I received a bunch of beautiful tomatoes and fresh basil in my CSA share this week and knew I wanted to make this. My SO was unimpressed when he saw the recipe, “we’re having tomatoes and bread for dinner?” But I told him we had to trust The Ina, and we did, and dinner was amazing. I ended up buying a similar puffy Italian bread so I used closer to 3 cups if breadcrumbs as suggested. Also made sure to toast the bread well. Served it with some simple sautéed zucchini and it was the perfect midsummer dinner. Thank you for this recipe!!
Hi Deb – I’m making this again tonight – it is a favorite at our house, though I have changed it quite a bit. I find myself curious about the method: specifically, why it’s necessary to cook the tomatoes with the bread for five minutes. That step doesn’t seem to accomplish anything except heat the tomatoes–they don’t really reduce much. And there’s so much liquid that stirring frequently seems unnecessary, too.
I’m wondering if this step seems odd to me because I’ve tweaked the proportions too much (we like it with more tomatoes and less bread…maybe that actually destroys the “scalloped” concept?) or if I’m not toasting the bread enough, or there’s some other explanation. We still love it; I’m mostly just curious.
We have also found we can’t handle the richness of this as a main dish–but we think it’s absolutely perfect served over grilled chicken (with a high ratio of tomatoes and just a little bit of chicken). Mmm, I can’t wait until it comes out of the oven!
Hi amy — I’m glad you’re enjoying the recipe. My hunch is that cooking the tomatoes and bread together softens the whole mess so more liquid escapes the tomatoes and is picked up by the croutons before it is baked. But, you should definitely try skipping it in one of your experiments and see if you can save on time and dishes. We’re all for that here!
This is my go to when I have old bread. Every time it turns out a bit different based on what I have in the house, but each time it is fabulous! I love it!
I’ve been making the Ina version of this recipe for years and it’s delish…especially if you add a handful of bocconcini or some cubed mozzarella. It’s even good reheated, as a sort of savory bread pudding. And yes, you can use whatever bread is around but it’s definitely best with crusty bread that’s a little stale. I often skip the cooking-together phase and it still turns out perfectly.
This would be lovely if I didn’t have to turn on the oven – it’s 34 degrees outside!!
MY oven is about to be turned on: this is our favorite cooked tomato prep, and the new season has just begun here in Western New York! Scalloped tomatoes, you are MINE!
I’ve been making this as often as possible since it was posted, but I’m sitting in the kitchen waiting for a dish of it (with the last heirloom tomatoes of the year and some slightly stale homemade challah) to come out of the oven and it smells so good I had to come back and say THANK YOU for this recipe (and for introducing me to poached eggs)! It is one of the first things I cooked that was actually delicious not just edible and definitely one of the main reasons I didn’t give up on learning to cook. Even after a disastrous, soupy attempt to make it with (sub par) ingredients from the restaurant store for 120 people last year it is still my favorite thing to make at any time of day.
Can you suggest a chicken piccata recipe that can accompany this tomato dish?
Jennifer — I never really get it right, but I’m working on it. (It’s always gummy!) I’ve used Giada’s before, and at least the flavors were great. Hope to post my own take on it soon, or when I finally reliably get it right. :)
This recipe was featured in Ina’s HOW EASY IS THAT? cookbook, where she gives Sarah Leah Chase credit for the original recipe. It appeared in Sarah’s COLD WEATHER COOKING cookbook and has also been featured on FOOD 52 as a GENIUS RECIPE and credited there to Sarah Leah Chase.
Hi Sarah — I’m sorry, I had no idea. Credit now updated.
Freeze the tomatoes whole (stem removed, skin on) and they’ll be perfect mid winter. Just blanch in hot water when you want to use them and they will be like fresh. Promise.
I also, would call this a gratin, as opposed to scalloped tomatoes. This looks freaking delicious!! Definitely making this!
Oooh, I want to make this and eat it cold, it would make a perfectly refreshing side !
Perfect with a spicy sausage “rougail” like on La Réunion island.
Thank you, have a bright day !
This was incredibly delicious! Used diced naan bread and half the sugar – perfection!
Your photo of this on Instagram recently stirred a happy memory for me. My mom canned tomatoes every summer when I was a kid, then in the winter made a side dish she just called “Tomato Bread”. I was a simple mixture of stale bread and a jar of that sunshine, seasoned with salt and pepper and baked together in a casserole. I loved that dish and your recipe sounds great! Thanks for the smile.
Deb, I plan to make this tomorrow with a load of CSA tomatoes. I would LOVE to know what a simple green side salad looks like in your house. Thanks so much for helping me feed my family!
Simplest would be baby arugula with olive oil, a dash of white wine vinegar, salt and pepper, tossed with my fingers for even coating right before we eat it. One level up in complexity, I’d whisk the olive oil and vinegar in the bottom of the bowl first with a dab of smooth dijon and put the lettuce on top. We’d toss it right before we ate it. Next level up would be some paper-thin slices of fennel (NOT an everyday thing, but I like arugula and fennel together a lot) and then I might use lemon juice instead of vinegar and the next level after that would be adding some parmesan I’d shave a few times off the block with a vegetable peeler. Hope that helps.
It’s in the oven right now. The aroma!
Fantastic! Flavorful, simple, and a GREAT way to use all those amazing CSA tomatoes (after tiring of eating them raw). Will definitely become a late summer staple.
This may be the best tomato recipe on the planet – I am on our second batch in a week. I love all your recipes (have made about 85% of your cookbook) and am about to have the peach version of the breakfast apricot crisp for my breakfast (genius BTW)
Super fan from Virginia
Loved this! Only used 1 1/2 Tablespoons sugar.
If there is a (charcoal) grill available, brush bread slices with oil and grill on both sides. Dice and use instead of toasting the bread in a pan. Although it seems impossible, the dish becomes even better. You just have to resist pulling all of the bread out of the pan when you heat is with the tomatoes.
This was easy and delicious and actually far tastier than it looked (to me). Make it, you won’t be sorry!
Oh my – this is soooo good – made this 2x a week while tomatoes were in season. Good for Breakfast (top with an egg), Lunch or Dinner.
I make a dish based on this recipe whenever I have leftover white bread. My tweaks are the following: I rub the slices of stale bread with garlic first before I cut them into cubes. I use canned tomatoes, because it’s easier and it allows me to make this at any time of the year. I add a whole cubed eggplant that I cook in the pan right after the bread cubes. I use less sugar. And I add blobs of mozzarella before baking. It is heavenly. Thank you for the recipe, Deb, and for this great website, which I have followed since *gasp* 2008.
I made this for a community pot luck dinner last night and it was devoured! I doubled the recipe and used a 9″ x 13″ glass pan. Can’t wait to try it with fresh summer tomatoes.
I made this yesterday and it was absolutely delicious. And I HATE messing around with whole tomatoes (give me a can any day). I think I’d like to do this again using a Pumpernickle or similar bread. My French bread basically dissolved as soon as the tomatoes were added. But it was still wonderful. I can’t wait to have another helping for lunch!
Had a ton of tomatoes from the garden and they needed to be used stay. I made this, put some eggies on top, and cooked up some fresh sweet corn to go with. My husband and I loved it! Can’t wait for more of our tomatoes to ripen so we can make this again!
My tomato and basil plants are currently in overdrive, and my daughter is a vegetarian college student. So this was perfect. Thank you!
Flooded with tomatoes just about now – perfectly timed post. I made 1/2 the recipe for two people. Early girl tomatoes, shaved parm, and french bread I had stored sliced in the freezer. Love this dish, as did my picky-eater husband : )
Could this be prepped ahead and cooked later or is it best to make ahead and reheat?
This looks so good! but… thanks so much for the salt comment as I had no idea there was such a difference in salt but recently had a salty experience and did not know why. Now I know! Thanks So Very Much!
Another Deb
Fabulous recipe! So easy and I made a dent in my NJ tomatoes and my overgrown basil plants. And a very versatile recipe, too, as a side, topping, base, etc. Loved it.
I just made this again (third tomato season in a row) from the first tomatoes from our garden … and again remembered how delicious it is. I have shared this recipe many times, especially among my vegetarian friends. Am looking forward to the leftovers! If you don’t have a baguette handy, I have used croutons straight from the bag successfully.
I can’t stop making this. I use gluten free baguettes and it is delicious. In fact, t has replaced tomato pie. Great recipe, thank you!
I love this dish, but I make it with some alterations: decrease to 1.5 Tb sugar and 1.5 c croutons; add 1/2 c. heavy cream; add 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes. The cream and chili flakes are a flavorful addition that I highly recommend!
I just made your peach blueberry cobbler and it was fabulous. I cut the filling in half but made the crust as directed and baked it in a 9 inch pie dish! I need to go back to my neighbors peach tree and make another! I love your recipes!
I’m sorry to say when I made this as written I did not care for it, very sweet and soggy. I took another crack at it and made some changes, it turned out perfectly for my tastes!
Reduce sugar to 2 tsp, add 1 tsp dried basil & ½ tsp red pepper flakes to tomatoes. Let the tomato spice mixture marinate. Get the crustiest bread you can find, leave crust on, toast it until its very dry. You want it crunchy to stand up to the tomato juices in the oven. Drain the tomatoes of as much liquid as possible, combine with croutons off heat. Add 1 cup parm to tomato crouton mixture, and top with 1 cup as well. Drizzle with olive oil when it’s out of the oven. Delicious!
This was delicious, I could not stop eating this! Used a ciabatta loaf that was 2 days old. Did not cut the crust off, didn’t know whether to drain the tomatoes after marinading in sugar/salt mixture. So I drained it. Was not soggy
My husband and I love this recipe so much. It’s super simple and turns out great every time. The flavors burst from this dish. Thank you!
Sogginess aside (and you re right Ithink it is part of the charm) the scalloped tomatoes look really good.
omg this is to die for. I made this twice this week (I’m overrun with tomatoes, I know that’s a wonderful problem to have), once using juicy beefsteak tomatoes, and the second time using hefty plum tomatoes. Both were delicious, but I’m here to say that the plum tomatoes were far superior – I’ll never make it another way again. So so good.
Can’t wait for breakfast in the morning – putting an egg on top of leftovers.
I added sautéed tofu for more protein and it was delicious.