sarah's roast cherry tomatoes

Sarah is sparking some big New Jersey pride here, with her romps around her home state and talk of the Shore. She’s keeping it up with these roasted tomatoes that she made for her mom. -Kelly

As we kick around the east coast, I have been yanking the steering wheel over to hit every farm stand in our path. Clearly a sucker for distressed, wooden signs of oversized produce.

We just made it down to NJ to visit the old homestead and along the way, I veered off the path to grab my first fresh NJ tomato in four years. My mom said I was price gouged with what I paid, but I didn’t care. The little appetizer I made for everyone when we got home was well worth it.   
 
My mom used to roast tomatoes with breadcrumbs for us all the time and when I’m visiting home, the dishes I grew up with are what I crave. Among a million other things, my mom taught me that in the kitchen, it doesn’t need to be complicated to be sophisticated. I always loved this dish and it was all pleasure to make it for her tonight. -Sarah
 
12 large, ripe cherry tomatoes
¼ cup Italian breadcrumbs
1 tbs chopped fresh basil
2 tbs butter
kosher salt
fresh, black pepper
 
Preheat oven to 400.
 
Wash and half tomatoes and place cut side up on a sheet pan. Sprinkle liberally with breadcrumbs and basil and dot with butter. Add salt and pepper to taste (my mom just said to add parmesan cheese if you really want to get funky).
 
Roast in the oven until the tomatoes start to bubble slightly and the crumbs are golden brown, about 10 minutes.

Comments

[patrice Longmire]

I love this!!! So simple and looks ummy. I am off to the farmers market this morning and you can bet that beautiful little tomatoes will be on my list. I am pretty sure that beautiful little tomatoes will go perfectly well with happy hour this evening. Seems like I am always inspired by your ideas.

[Connie]

Nothing so good as a Jersey tomato. And while I love roasted cherry tomatoes, I've never put bread crumbs on them! ooooh! delish!