Broiled Parmesan Tomatoes are delicious and a great recipe when you have a lot of excess tomatoes. On our recent trip to a farm co-op, I purchased a 20-pound box of them because they looked so good. It has been years since I had a "real" tomato -- remember the kind? Red, juicy and loaded with flavor? So, let's talk tomatoes, the star ingredient of this recipe.
History
Wikipedia states "the word "tomato" comes from the Spanish tomate, which in turn comes from the Nahuatl word tomatl, meaning "the swelling fruit". The native Mexican tomatillo is tomate (in Nahuatl: tomātl), meaning "fat water" or "fat thing"). When Aztecs started to cultivate the fruit to be larger, sweeter, and red, they called the new species xitomatl (or jitomates).
The tomato is native to western South America. Wild versions were the size of peas. The Spanish first introduced tomatoes to Europe. They became used in Spanish and Italian food. The tomato was initially grown as an ornamental plant in France and northern Europe.
It was regarded with suspicion as a food because botanists recognized it as a relative of the poisonous belladonna and deadly nightshade. This was exacerbated by the interaction of the tomato's acidic juice with pewter plates. The leaves and immature fruit contains tomatine, which in large quantities would be toxic. However, the ripe fruit contains no tomatine."(read more on the History)
Making Broiled Parmesan Tomatoes
The process for making Broiled Parmesan Tomatoes is simple. Begin by washing the tomatoes, then cut out the stem area and slice each in half. I like to slice just enough from the rounded end so each half sits flat and level.
It's time to heat your oven to broil and position a rack in the center. While the oven warms, I place each tomato half, rounded side down, on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil. Drizzle a little olive oil on top of each tomato half, then sprinkle with salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, basil leaves (fresh or ground) and grated Parmesan cheese.
Carefully place the baking sheet on the middle rack in the oven and broil for about 20-30 minutes. The cooking time will depend upon a number of factors like moisture of the tomato, etc. The best gauge is to keep an eye on the cheese and the tomato. The tomatoes are done when the cheese starts turning golden brown and/or the tomato begins to slightly collapse.
Remove from the oven and serve warm. The Broiled Parmesan Tomatoes go great as a side to meat, fish or chicken, or as a stand-alone dish. Enjoy!
See the Kosher Cowboy's other tomato recipes.
Broiled Parmesan Tomatoes
DESCRIPTION
INGREDIENTS
- 3 tomatoes
- 2 tablespoon parmesan cheese (grated)
- olive oil (to drizzle over halves)
- salt and pepper (to taste)
- garlic powder (to taste)
- onion powder (to taste)
- 6 basil leaves (fresh (or ground basil to taste))
INSTRUCTIONS
- Wash tomatoes and cut out the stem area, then slice in half. (I also slice a little off the rounded bottom so that the tomato halves sit level.
- Turn on broiler and set rack to middle position in oven.
- Cover a baking pan with aluminum foil and place all the tomato halves next to each other with the rounded sides down.
- Drizzle olive oil on top of each half and sprinkle with salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and finish with shredded Parmesan cheese. Place on middle rack of oven and broil for 20-30 minutes or until cheese turns golden brown and/or the tomato bottoms begin to slightly collapse.
- Remove from oven and serve warm as a meal or as a side to meat, chicken or fish dishes.
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