Baked Summer Tomatoes
Updated June 20, 2024
- Total Time
- about 1 hour
- Prep Time
- 15 minutes
- Cook Time
- 50 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:4 to 6 servings
- 2tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small bits, plus more for pan
- 3½ to 4 cups (about 2 pounds) mix of cherry tomatoes and regular tomatoes (cherry tomatoes halved; larger tomatoes cut into 1½-inch pieces)
- 2slices stale sourdough bread, cut into 12 pieces
- ½teaspoon fine sea salt
- ½teaspoon to 3½ tablespoons granulated sugar (see Tip)
- Freshly ground pepper
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)
202 calories; 5 grams fat; 3 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 1 gram monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 33 grams carbohydrates; 4 grams dietary fiber; 9 grams sugars; 7 grams protein; 484 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Powered byPreparation
- Step 1
Heat oven to 375 degrees. Generously butter a 1-quart casserole dish (or 8-by-8-inch baking dish).
- Step 2
In a saucepan, combine tomatoes and 2 tablespoons water. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat and cook gently, stirring often, until most of the liquid evaporates, 5 to 15 minutes depending on how juicy they are. They should soften but still more or less hold their shape.
- Step 3
Line the sides of the prepared pan with 8 pieces of bread. Pour the stewed tomatoes and any liquid into the pan. Top the tomatoes with half of the butter and season with the salt, sugar and pepper. Place the 4 remaining pieces of bread on top, dotting each piece of bread with the last of the butter.
- Step 4
Bake until the tomatoes are bubbling, about 35 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Tip
- Edna Lewis’s original recipe calls for 3½ tablespoons sugar, but you can add less if you like. More sugar makes it taste like a sweet tomato jam. Less sugar is lighter and brighter.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
john golden
Bake for 35 minutes period at which time they’ll be bubbling. I’ve been making this for years from Edna Lewis cookbook. Never use cherry tomatoes. And always add the sugar. The other great recipe from her book The Gift of Southern Cooking is scalloped tomatoes. For the bread in baked tomatoes I always use a good bakery white loaf that you cut into thick slices.
todd
Re: Step 4. Bake for 35 minutes until tomatoes are bubbling? Or bake until tomatoes have been bubbling for 35 minutes?
Sharon IvB
Cherry tomatoes---get the multicolored ones if you can. Dash in a glug of olive oil, add some Italian seasoning and a little granulated garlic, some fresh basil, a little granulated onion with chives and spring onion and bake until the tomatoes have burst open and are bubbly. Some may be a bit blackened---it's OK. Take them out of the oven, sprinkle in some grated parmesan and put back in the oven for ten minutes. Serve with crusty bread for dipping or make enough for a pasta main dish. Yum!
gigi
i was just making this; I hadn't made for a year or two. my mother frequently made it using canned tomatoes when truly ripe tomatoes were unavailable. she used sturdy bread, tearing it into chunks, and I do too. it has always been a favorite side dish. i imagine that my mother was happy when she came to the time in her life that canned goods were easily available.
Sharon IvB
Cherry tomatoes---get the multicolored ones if you can. Dash in a glug of olive oil, add some Italian seasoning and a little granulated garlic, some fresh basil, a little granulated onion with chives and spring onion and bake until the tomatoes have burst open and are bubbly. Some may be a bit blackened---it's OK. Take them out of the oven, sprinkle in some grated parmesan and put back in the oven for ten minutes. Serve with crusty bread for dipping or make enough for a pasta main dish. Yum!
Diane Heditsian
My mother used to do this for us in the summer when I was a child (now 70) but she would make it on the stove top vs. the oven. Glad to have found this recipe and the memories!
Debbie
This dish will only get better as the summer goes along and tomatoes become really summer-y. I used GF sourdough bread and 1 T sugar. My celiac daughter will love it when she’s in Calif. in July. A keeper!
John B.
My mother made this dish at Christmas, which she called Tomato Pudding. It was from her friend who hailed from Virginia's tidewater area. Recipes are almost identical, except Nanalou Sauder's Tomato Pudding recipe called for saltines.
todd
Re: Step 4. Bake for 35 minutes until tomatoes are bubbling? Or bake until tomatoes have been bubbling for 35 minutes?
Jeanne
Until they are bubbling. Around 35 minutes in total.
Kjl
My mother grew up with a cook and when she married had to learn how to cook. She made something similar to this with whatever she had on hand. Nothing frou frou -regular butter, bread, tomatoes, no measuring, it was delicious. A side for meatloaf, fried or baked cx or pork chops. She fed a family of 5 with little money but lots of love
Rebecca Steele
This is almost identical to make tomato pudding my grandmothers in Indiana were making in 1930s 40s 50s, simlar to Tomato Cockaigne in Joy of Cooking, and can be endlessly modified by using lots more tomatoes, lots more bread, baking for two hours at 250°, and garnishing with chopped fresh basil at serving time. Just delicious! Can’t wait until our tomatoes are ripe and juicy!
john golden
Bake for 35 minutes period at which time they’ll be bubbling. I’ve been making this for years from Edna Lewis cookbook. Never use cherry tomatoes. And always add the sugar. The other great recipe from her book The Gift of Southern Cooking is scalloped tomatoes. For the bread in baked tomatoes I always use a good bakery white loaf that you cut into thick slices.
Sian Hughes
Thank you for clarifying, and for the tips.
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