Baked Tomatoes with Parmesan & Herbs: Webisode #34

 

What's Going on Today: Trip to The Garbage Museum (no joke, watch the video).

Naptime Goals: Prepare Baked Tomatoes with Parmesan & Herbs, Cookie Crumble Parfaits.

Tonight's Menu: Tagliatelle, Baked Tomatoes, Cookie Crumble Parfaits, Wine (for the parents)

Parenting Lesson of the Day: Never underestimate the appeal of garbage!

It's hard to believe that we spent an entire morning at The Garbage Museum, but we did. I have to say, it was quite an educational outing that all the parents, unexpectedly, enjoyed! When we came home from our inspiring outing my daughter crashed for a long afternoon nap. While she rested I used the time to prepare dinner with some of the great tomatoes I'd recently brought home from the farmer's market.

I love cooking with tomatoes and can't get enough of them in the summer when they are so readily available. It's not unusual that I roast tomatoes. If you remember, last summer I wrote about how I love to slow-roast them during naptime and eat them all afternoon. This summer I decided to write about another favorite recipe, baked tomatoes. Here you'll see that I drizzle them with a generous coating of olive oil, stuff them with a mixture of Parmesan and herbs and keep them in the fridge until I roast them for dinner. Easy and delicious, they are a great way to celebrate summer flavor. 

Baked Tomatoes with Parmesan & Herbs

5 large tomatoes

1 c. olive oil

1/2 c. freshly grated Parmesan Cheese

1/2 c. bread crumbs (plain or Panko)

1/4 c. freshly chopped Parsley

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Cut the tomatoes in half and scoop of the seeds with a spoon. Nestle each half, cut side up, in a baking dish.

2. Drizzle the tomatoes with the olive oil and pat around them to make sure they are nicely coated. 

3. Mix the breadcrumbs, cheese and parsley together in a bowl. Pat even amounts into each tomato. Bake for 25-30 minutes until the tops are golden brown and the cheese is slightly melted.

Naptime Notes:

Naptime Recipe Variations and Ideas: Other herbs like thyme, rosemary or basil would be delicious in this. It would also be great if you wanted to mix the herbs make flavors all your own.

Naptime Stopwatch: Preparing the tomatoes takes about 20 minutes. Baking time is an additional 25 minutes.

Naptime Reviews: My daughter would only eat hers after I'd cut it up and tossed it with pasta. But my husband and I devoured them just as they were!