Tomato and Basil Bake

I found this recipe on Pinterest and it’s from the EveryDay magazine by Rachael Ray.  It is absolutely delicious and so simple and versatile.

I recommend tomatoes from a farm stand, your back yard or a farmer’s market.  The taste will be far superior than what you get at the supermarket. They are still out there now, so don’t waste another moment and get a pound of cherry tomatoes, red or yellow, it doesn’t matter, and make this recipe!

Tomato and Basil Bake (Tomato and Basil Bake from EveryDay with Rachael Ray)

1 pound of cherry tomatoes, halved

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 tablespoon of Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1/3 cup panko

2 tablespoon butter, melted

2 tablespoons finely chopped basil

Set your oven at broil.

In a small bowl, stir panko and melted butter together and set aside.

In an 8-9 inch glass baking dish (no need to spray with canola oil), toss tomatoes, garlic and olive oil.  Broil for 12 minutes, stirring tomatoes 1/2 way through.

Remove from oven, and sprinkle panko/butter mixture on top and broil for 30 seconds.

Remove from oven and sprinkle with basil.

We served this over capellini spaghetti.    Delicious.

We also had fresh pole beans from the garden, so I served it over the beans as well.  Delicious.

The next day, I took what was leftover (not much!) and put it on 2 pieces of a  sliced baguette and sprinkled mozzarella cheese over the top.  Then I toasted it in the toaster oven for about 1-2 minutes.  Delicious.

Cooking the tomatoes brought out more of their sweet flavor.  It was amazing!

one pound of cherry tomatoes, from our garden (Sungold and Sweet Baby Girl:

tomatoes tossed with olive oil and garlic:

ready to go in the oven:

panko/butter mixture and basil, ready to go:

after 12 minutes:

panko/butter mixture sprinkled on top:

finished cooking and basil sprinkled on top:

over capelinni:

over green beans:

on slices of baguette with melted mozzarella: