Scalloped Tomatoes

When I made my weekly trek to the local farm market, I found beautiful, vine-ripened tomatoes from Florida.  It's still a bit too early for our local tomatoes but these looked great.  Scalloped tomatoes as a side dish to go with grilled chicken was on my mind as I am very much a tomato lover and very much ready for those summer veggies.  I came up with this recipe, adapted from one by Ina Garten.  For convenience, mine uses a package of ready made croutons.  Ina's calls for make-your-own croutons, which I will most definitely do when I have more time!   The result was deliciously yummy!  This makes an excellent side dish for grilled meats or would be equally good as a vegetarian main dish... lovely for lunch or dinner! 

INGREDIENTS:

5 Tablespoons olive oil

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

5 medium tomatoes, cut into pieces

1 Tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)

½ teaspoon ground black pepper

1 Tablespoon Italian seasoning

2 cups seasoned croutons

1 cup Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS:

·       Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

·       Lightly spray 9-inch square baking dish with cooking spray

·       Add 3 Tablespoons olive oil to medium saucepan and saute onion until transparent.  Add garlic and cook for one minute more.

·       Add tomatoes, sugar, salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning to the saucepan and stir, continuing to cook for four to five minutes.  Remove from heat.

·       Stir in the croutons until all ingredients are combined and seasoned.

·       Pour mixture into prepared baking dish.

·       Top with Parmesan cheese and drizzle with 2 Tablespoons olive oil.

·       Bake for 35 to 40 minutes and serve hot or warm and enjoy!