Baked Tomatoes

Need a little Italian inspiration for dinner tonight? Baked tomatoes are the ticket! Everybody loves them, and they only take 10 minutes to bake.

I absolutely love a yummy cheese-slathered baked tomato. They’re oh-so flavorfully delicious, tender, and they make for happiness. Shocker, most kids I know love these baked tomatoes too. They gobble them down without a fuss.

They’re easy to make, only requiring ten minutes of baking time, and they’re packed with Italian flavors your whole family will love.

How to Make Baked Tomatoes

Making crispy baked tomatoes might take a little more cooking time, frankly, I love them either way. Just a few simple steps and they’re ready to serve!

You start off by preheating the oven and laying out parchment paper or grabbing your Silpat lined baking sheet. Then you’ll grab a mixing bowl and whisk together the minced garlic, rosemary, and olive oil.

Next, you’ll use a small spoon to evenly drizzle the oil mixture over the tomatoes and sprinkle salt and pepper across the top. You’ll top with shaved parmesan and stick them in the oven to bake until the cheese melts completely.

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Arrange tomato halves, cut side up, on a parchment paper. In a small bowl, whisk together olive oil and minced garlic, Use a spoon to drizzle oil, rosemary, and garlic over tomatoes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

2. Top with parmesan. Bake for 10 minutes or until cheese is completely melted.

Are These The Same As Oven Roasted Tomatoes?

My tomatoes are not the same as oven roasted tomatoes, though they bear some similarities. There are a wide variety of recipes that involve roasting tomatoes, though, like baked whole tomatoes,  Slow Roasted Tomatoes Sauce And Spaghetti or Honey Roasted Tomato Bruschetta and these will approach roasting/baking differently.

When Are These Best To Serve?

Give them a few minutes to cool to avoid burning the roof of your mouth, and then serve them up warm and fresh.

Can You Make These Ahead of Time?

You can certainly prepare these ahead of time, refrigerate then pop them in the over ten minutes before you want to serve them. I don’t recommend reheating these later. That said, the types of tomatoes and cheese you use will greatly affect how easily you can reheat these. Again, Roma tomatoes and medium to hard cheese like Parmesan, Mozzarella, or Asiago, will produce the best result.

I would only reheat these in the oven, however, no matter what ingredients you use. The microwave might cause the tomatoes to burst. The low water content items might evaporate, and the high water content ingredients might make a soggy mess.

If you need something you can prepare ahead of time, you may want to try something more like stuffed baked tomatoes they should hold up better.

Are Roast Tomatoes Quicker To Make?

This particular recipe takes way less time to make than most roasted tomatoes recipes like Roasted Tomato Caprese. My baked tomatoes take 10 minutes, while most other recipes take a minimum of 20 minutes. Slow oven roasted tomatoes recipes are the most common, but there are some quick oven roasted tomatoes recipes, as well.

Recipe Notes for Baked Tomatoes

Below are a few things to keep in mind as you prepare this savory baked tomatoes recipe. Like, to Romas or not to Roma, and which kinds of cheeses are best to substitute.

Best Tomatoes to Use

Roma tomatoes, hands down, are the best for this recipe. You might think that the type of tomato you use doesn’t matter, but Romas really do make all the difference. These tomatoes have a lower water content than most tomatoes, which makes them ideal for baking. Veggies with  high water content can turn mushy in the oven. Nobody wants that! That said some people like baked cherry tomatoes in this recipe to use as a finger food for appetizers.

Fresh Herb Substitutions

Sometimes, you just can’t get your hands on the fresh herbs required for this recipe. If that’s the case, you can add 1 and a half teaspoons of dried Italian seasoning to the olive oil. Or you can use dried oregano or dried basil and skip the fresh herbs altogether.

Creating Level Tomatoes

If you wind up with a wonky tomato half, you just need to flip the tomato over and cut a small, flat slice off of the rounded side to even things out. This is only really needed for tomatoes that are sloped and might lose their cheese when it melts.

Making These Baked Tomatoes Vegan

Sometimes you’ll have guests who need a Vegan-friendly recipe. The only thing in my baked tomatoes recipe that isn’t Vegan is the cheese. That’s easy to solve by finding some Vegan-friendly cheeses at a grocery store like Whole Foods. I can’t attest as to how it will bake, but if you use it often you’ll likely know.

Most of these Vegan-cheeses are made from nuts — like cashew cheese — and taste really amazing. The properties of these cheeses, however, are a bit different, and you’ll probably have to scoop cheese out rather than slice them. Careful, this type of cheese often has a higher water content.

Baked Tomatoes Recipe

I hope you’ll enjoy our savory Baked Tomatoes Recipe as much as we do in our home. With this recipe you might even convert a few “never-tomato” peeps, even a kiddo or two!.

More Appetizer:

• Fried Eggplant

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Baked Tomatoes

Need a little Italian inspiration for dinner tonight? Baked tomatoes are the ticket! Everybody loves them, and they only take 10 minutes to bake.

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time10 minutes mins

Total Time20 minutes mins

Servings: 6 Servings

Author: Kathleen

Ingredients

• 4 Roma Tomatoes
• 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
• 1 Teaspoon Fresh Rosemary Finely Chopped
• 1 Large Garlic Clove
• Salt
• Black Pepper
• 3/4 Cup Parmesan Cheese Shaved

Instructions

•  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• Arrange tomato halves, cut side up, on a parchment or Silpat lined baking sheet.
• In a small bowl, whisk together olive oil and minced garlic. Use a small spoon to evenly drizzle oil, rosemary, and garlic over tomatoes then sprinkle with salt and pepper.
• Top with a Parmesan.
• Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes or until cheese is completely melted and golden.

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