I used my heirloom Big Rainbow and Brandywine tomatoes but you can use any tasty tomato. Romas work well because they’re fleshier.
INGREDIENTS:
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Olive oil
3/4 cup Fresh bread crumbs (or croutons)
3 TBS Chopped fresh basil
3/4 cup Grated parmesan cheese
1 TBS Fresh rosemary, chopped
1 tsp Salt
1/2 cup Pine nuts
Freshly ground pepper to taste
6 TBS. Unsalted butter, cut into small dice
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Oil a shallow 2 qt. baking dish and set aside. Stem tomatoes, then halve horizontally. Squeese halves lightly to extract juice, then scoop out seeds. (not completely necessary to me) Cut into 1 inch chunks and let drain in a colander for about 15 mins. The liquid amount will vary depending on what kind of tomatoes you use.
Spread the tomato chunks in the baking dish. Add the basil, rosemary, salt and several grinds of black pepper and toss. Mix together the bread crumbs, Parmesan and pine nuts in a large bowl. Add the butter and mix well with your hands until mixture is crumbly. Spread the mixture in top of the tomatoes. Bake until the topping is crisp and slightly browned and juices are bubbling, 30 to 35 mins. If there’s a lot of liquid you can spoon some out. This can be made a few hours ahead of time and then reheated. It reheats surprisingly well if left at room temperature. Reheat in a 350 oven for about 15 mins. Or longer. Garnish with fresh basil and rosemary sprigs. Yum!