“Homegrown tomatoes, homegrown tomatoes
What’d life be without homegrown tomatoes
Only two things that money can’t buy
And that’s true love and homegrown tomatoes”
(“Homegrown Tomatoes” was written by Guy Clark, go to end of post for You Tube video)
I cut the larger wee tomatoes in half and put them all on a baking sheet, drizzling good olive oil and sprinkling with crunchy sea salt.
As an afterthought I added a few garlic cloves & some thyme sprigs.
20 minutes or so of roasting at 400 degrees F does the trick. The tomatoes become slightly browned and collapse somewhat. The garlic is mashably soft. Into a bowl they go.
I cut the dried baguette into large chunks & placed it on the same roasting pan with the leftover garlic & thyme pieces. Pop this back into the oven for a few minutes to crisp. I let the bread cool slightly before tossing in the bowl with the tomatoes. This salad is best made ahead to let the bread soak up some of the juice and chilled or served at room temperature.
The evening we ate this salad for supper it was 93 degrees here in Nashville.
This simple tomato and bread salad, sometimes referred to as a Panzanella salad, served with a bottle of crisp, cold wine had the needed cooling effect. This heat we have been having is “nothin’ a homegrown tomato won’t cure”.
Homegrown Tomatoes & Crispy Bread Salad
Ingredients:
- 1 lb of homegrown tomatoes, small or large cut into smaller pieces
- fresh thyme & basil leaves
- 3 cloves peeled garlic
- sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
- good quality olive oil
- 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
- freshly grated Parmesan Cheese for finishing off
- additional basil leaves for garnish
- “Old” Bread…baguettes work great, cut into cubes
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Scatter tomatoes on a baking sheet, add garlic cloves & thyme sprigs.
- Drizzle generously with olive oil. Dust with sea salt & black pepper.
- Put pan in hot oven & roast tomatoes for about 20 minutes or until they just begin to char & collapse. Remove from oven & scrape tomatoes & juices into a bowl.
- Add red wine vinegar & about 1/2 cup torn basil leaves into the bowl & toss well.
- Add bread cubes to the same baking pan, toss bread in any leftover oil. Bake for about 5 minutes to crisp. Remove from oven. Let cool.
- Add cooled bread to the mixing bowl with the tomatoes & basil. At this point you can serve at room temp or pop in the refrigerator to chill for later.
- To serve add a generous portion of freshly grated parmesan cheese & more torn pieces of basil and a glass of cold, crisp white wine!
recipe and photos by Teresa Blackburn foodonfifth.com teresablackburnfoodstyling.com
Click on the below link for Guy Clark singing “Homegrown Tomatoes”.